Fifteen million left on the table
Fifteen million euros net. That is what Moussa Diaby agreed to walk away from in order to return to the Bundesliga.
The detail comes from Sport Bild. The French winger still had a particularly lucrative deal at Al-Ittihad, running until 2029. By tearing it up, he only secured a partial payout.
The maths is simple enough. He paid to get out.
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He pushed it through to the end
Diaby did not sit around waiting to be rescued. He drove the move himself.
And when the deal looked in danger of collapsing in the final hours, he made his position crystal clear to the Saudi hierarchy. A U-turn was off the table, no doubt about it.
Bayer Leverkusen eventually had to stump up around 30 million euros to bring back their former winger.
A round trip worth tens of millions
The timeline is enough to make your head spin. Developed at PSG, Diaby settled at Leverkusen from 2019 to 2023. Aston Villa then put 50m euros on the table. A year later, Al-Ittihad matched that with close to 60.
Two years in Saudi Arabia, 73 appearances, 11 goals, 33 assists. The numbers were not bad. They just were not enough to keep him.
At 27, he is back at the club where he made his name at the top level in Europe. On a far less comfortable contract, and apparently without a shred of regret.
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