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Moussa Diaby returns to Bayer Leverkusen from Al-Ittihad

Bayer Leverkusen have re-signed French winger Moussa Diaby from Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad on a contract until 2031. Diaby, who previously played for Leverkusen from 2019 to 2023, said he 'didn't hesitate' when the move became possible.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Sep 1, 2026 Published 2h ago

Diaby rejoins Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen have re-signed French winger Moussa Diaby from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad, the Bundesliga club announced on Tuesday. The 27-year-old has signed a contract until 2031 after a two-year spell in Saudi Arabia, where he won the domestic double in 2025.

Diaby, who has won 11 caps for France, originally joined Leverkusen in 2019 from Paris Saint-Germain. During his first stint at the club, he scored 49 goals in 172 appearances in all competitions. He left for Aston Villa in 2023, where he scored six goals in 38 Premier League appearances before moving to Al-Ittihad in the summer of 2024.

"When the enquiry came in and the move became possible, I didn't hesitate for a second," Diaby said in a statement. "The club has grown even bigger in the meantime – competing for titles with Bayer 04 is a wonderful prospect, a huge goal of mine."

Al-Ittihad confirms departure

Al-Ittihad confirmed Diaby's departure in a video posted on their official X account, which showcased his finest moments in their colours. The title of the post read: "He left a legacy and moved on." The Saudi club thanked Diaby for his time with the team.

During his two seasons at Al-Ittihad, Diaby helped the club lift the Roshn League and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup. While last season brought a general dip in form across the squad, including for Diaby, the winger still attracted interest from several European clubs. According to reports cited by Yardbarker, Inter Milan had led the chase before Leverkusen secured the transfer.

Leverkusen confirmed the signing and handed Diaby the number 19 shirt for the new season. Diaby sent a message to fans, saying: "I am home."

Transfer details and Al-Ittihad's next move

Previous press reports, as cited by Yardbarker, put the transfer fee at no more than 30 million euros, with Diaby reportedly set to earn an annual salary of 6 million euros on a five-year deal. Neither club has publicly confirmed the financial terms.

Al-Ittihad are already lining up a replacement, with Japan's Ritsu Doan, the Eintracht Frankfurt winger, expected to join the club in the current summer transfer window, according to Yardbarker.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

The Straits Times

Framing: announces the transfer of French winger Diaby from Al-Ittihad back to Leverkusen

as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:18 PM UTC

Facts Included:

French winger Moussa Diaby has returned to Bayer Leverkusen from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad, the Bundesliga club said on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old winger has signed a contract until 2031 after a two-year spell with Al-Ittihad, where he won the domestic double in 2025.
Diaby, who has won 11 caps for France, joined Leverkusen in 2019 from Paris St Germain and scored 49 goals in 172 appearances in all competitions.
He left the German club to join Aston Villa in 2023 and scored six goals in 38 Premier League appearances.
"When the enquiry came in and the move became possible, I didn’t hesitate for a second. The club has grown even bigger in the meantime – competing for titles with Bayer 04 is a wonderful prospect, a huge goal of mine," Diaby said in a statement.

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Yardbarker

Framing: Highlights Al-Ittihad's farewell tribute to Diaby, emphasizing his legacy and departure. — Neutral with a celebratory undertone

as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:17 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Al-Ittihad confirmed the departure of Moussa Diaby to Bayer Leverkusen in the current summer transfer window.
The club marked the exit with a video on their official X account.
The title read: 'He left a legacy and moved on'.
The Saudi side thanked Diaby for his time in their ranks.
Leverkusen confirmed the signing.
Diaby returns three years after leaving in 2023, when he moved to Aston Villa.
The German club handed Diaby the number 19 shirt for the new season.
Diaby sent a message to fans: 'I am home'.
Previous press reports put the fee at no more than 30 million euros, with Diaby set to earn an annual salary of 6 million euros on a five-year deal.
His exit closes a two-year spell at Al-Ittihad.
Since arriving from Aston Villa in the summer of 2024, Diaby helped the team lift the Roshn League and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup two seasons ago.
Last season brought a general dip in form across the squad, Diaby included, yet he still caught the eye of several European clubs.
Inter Milan led the chase before Leverkusen won the race for his signature.
Japan's Ritsu Doan, the Eintracht Frankfurt winger, will join Al-Ittihad in the current summer transfer window.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimFrench winger Moussa Diaby has returned to Bayer Leverkusen from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Straits Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:18 PM UTC, Yardbarker as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:17 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: The Straits Times, Yardbarker 1 claim extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01