Aston Villa have reportedly informed Bayer Leverkusen that they are willing to pay in the region of €50m (£43m) for Moussa Diaby.
Having secured a place in the Europa Conference League playoffs, Unai Emery is currently in the process of significantly strengthening his first-team squad.
Villarreal defender Pau Torres and Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans have already been signed, with attention now turning to the final third.
The Premier League outfit have been credited with an interest in Belgian duo Charles de Ketelaere and Jeremy Doku of AC Milan and Rennes respectively.
Nevertheless, their priority target appears to be Diaby, with Leverkusen allegedly already rejecting an offer in the region of £30m.
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Since that proposal was put forward, Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr have joined the race for Diaby as they look to add a major name to their attacking ranks to link up with Cristiano Ronaldo.
According to Bild, both Villa and Al-Nassr have indicated to Leverkusen that they are ready to shell out €50m for one of their key players.
While the report stops short of claiming that each proposal will be accepted, there is an acknowledgement that the France international is ready to take on a new challenge.
The 24-year-old is allegedly in favour of moving to the Premier League rather than making the switch to the Middle East at this stage of his career.
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Diaby has been frequently linked with a transfer to England with Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle United all emerging as potential destinations over the past 12 months.
However, each of those three clubs have seemingly moved onto other targets, effectively leaving Villa and Al-Nassr with a free run at the versatile attacker.
In four years at Leverkusen, Diaby has chipped in with 49 goals and 48 assists from 172 appearances in all competitions, with 18 of those contributions coming in the 2022-23 Bundesliga.
With two years left on his contract, though, the former Paris Saint-Germain youngster's stance over his future is seemingly leading to Leverkusen to contemplate cashing in on his services.
Darren Plant
