Aston Villa fans would have been in dreamland when looking at all the star-studded business their side were doing right up until the transfer window slammed shut.
Indeed, the Villans would end up making three statement buys right at the death with Marcus Rashford, Axel Disasi and Marco Asensio all joining on loan to significantly bolster Unai Emery’s men.
The last name in that trio of fresh purchases is arguably the most bumper buy of the lot, with the Spaniard boasting quite the successful career before making this last-ditch switch to England.
Asensio's career so far
One brief glance at Asensio’s glittering career honours shows you the illustrious company he has held when playing for both Paris St. Germain and Real Madrid, with a stunning three Champions League successes under his belt playing in Madrid, alongside lifting three La Liga titles aloft.
He could well give his new side a much-needed boost on Europe’s biggest stage subsequently, having picked up an impressive 61 goals from 286 appearances at the Santiago Bernabeu, before then branching out to shine in the French capital.
Even with the French giants allowing the 29-year-old to move onto Villa, Asensio still has two goals and four assists next to his name in Ligue 1 action this season, with seven big chances created in total music to the ears of Ollie Watkins who will want to cause havoc linking up with the new attacker.
After all, adding in Asensio will give Emery more options down the right wing which has been somewhat of problem area so far this campaign, considering an underperforming Leon Bailey only has a lacklustre three goal contributions in the Premier League.
But, the ex-Arsenal boss could have had a far more cost-effective remedy to hand if this former Villans star wasn’t sold on last summer.
The ex-Villa star who is better than Asensio
Villa fans would have been disappointed to see Moussa Diaby up and leave the club last year after a whirlwind spell in the West Midlands, with the deal to land the former Bayer Leverkusen man having been hailed as a “real coup” for the club by Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley.
In total, Diaby would end up making 54 appearances for Emery’s men across one memorable season, culminating in a mightily impressive 14 goals and assists coming his way from 38 top-flight contests.
Football statistician Statman Dave would even label the on-fire Frenchman as “electric” during his breathless stint in England, but those top performances would alert the likes of mega-rich Al-Ittihad to his services in the end who forked out a whopping £52m to cut his Villa stay short.
This would have been a gutting development, with the potential for Diaby to kick on even more and really stamp his authority on the English game if he didn’t prematurely depart, only for him now to be starring out in the Middle East far away from his former employers.
Stat – per 90 mins*
Diaby
Games played
11
Goals scored
1
Assists
10
Shots*
1.7
Key passes*
2.9
Big chances missed
6
Big chances created
12
Staggeringly, from just 11 Saudi Pro League games to date, the ex-Villa number 19 has tallied up a jaw-dropping 11 goal contributions, with ten of those being assists.
Whilst Asensio does boast some promising numbers himself, it could well take the 29-year-old some time to adjust to his new high-pressure surroundings having only been used sparingly by PSG in recent games, on top of never playing a single minute in the English top-flight.
Whereas – in an alternate reality – Villa still have Diaby performing at the very peak of his powers to this day, as Emery prays the high-profile pick-up of Asensio works out for the best.
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