Fast and graceful: Musa Diabi soars quickly soaring in Bayer Leverkusen

He left PSG to play regularly, chose Leverkusen on the recommendation of Thomas Tuchel, quickly became a fan favorite, and this season he upgraded his game to a new level, and was even called up to the French national team.

Musa Diabi, perhaps the fastest player in the world, is waiting today for Bayern Munich (16:30, Sport 3)

Walla!

sport

05/03/2022

Saturday, March 05, 2022, 11:00 p.m.

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Summary: Bayer Leverkusen - Arminia Bielefeld 0: 3 (Sport 1)

"We have nothing to lose, and we have Musa Diabi in top form," declared goalkeeper Leverkusen Lukash Herdecki ahead of his visit to Bayern Munich (16:30, Sport3).

Bayer's confidence in the sky right now - she has scored more points than the champion in the second round, scoring 19 goals in the last five rounds, and the French winger a direct part in eight of them, with seven conquests and cooking.

At the age of 22, he is at the best time in his career, and the team believes that he will also present the Bavarians with difficult challenges in order to continue the gallop to qualify for the Champions League.

Diabi is not Leverkusen's main star, nor will he be.

This role is reserved exclusively for the prodigy Florian Wurz who shines above all and rises to the status of one of the best players in the Bundesliga.

There is no reason to compete with him - the wisdom is to complete him, and this collaboration gets better with each passing week.

Wirtz thinks fast, and this is the trait that makes him such a valued player.

Diaby runs fast, and that's his main strength.

Some argue that he may be the fastest player in the world today, and the more he learns to take advantage of that speed for his own benefit and the benefit of the team, the harder - to the point of impossibility - to stop him.

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Hard to impossible to stop him.

Diabi (Photo: GettyImages)

After bombing a hat-trick for the Augsburg net in late January, newspaper commentator Zodovica Zeitung Milan Pavlovic described him as a superhero: "He ran even faster than the ball."

This is a point that needed improvement, because the ball should always move quickly from the players.

The defensive game also had to be upgraded, because in quite a few games the Frenchman simply forgot to put pressure on the opponent.

In early 2022, everything seems to connect somehow, and the result is absolutely formidable.

There is a talent here that leaves everyone with dust, passes players as if they do not exist, demonstrates the same efficiency in both wings, threatens a lot on goal, and even produces a lot of valley situations for his teammates.

In light of the rise in the last two months, his season balance stands at 15 goals and nine assists in all settings.

Leverkusen fans are thrilled to the roof.

They fell in love with the French acquisition immediately after being signed from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2019 for 15 million euros, and even set up a virtual organization called the Diabi Army.

Expectations from him were high, among other things because Thomas Tuchel in his own right advised him to move to the Bundesliga where he could take advantage and upgrade his competitive advantages.

The German coach did this with a heavy heart, because he first gave Diabi the place in the first PSG team in 2018/19, and the boy demonstrated at times excellent ability.

However, it was clear to both that in the star-studded squad his number of minutes would be very limited by definition, with all the good will of the mentor.

This is not new - this is how it has always been at the Qatari club.

In 2016, Diabi won the title of Outstanding Player in PSG Academy, and Keren was happy with the special ceremony, but it was also a signal that his path would be blocked.

This was the case with everyone who received the award, and many chose to flee Paris at the first opportunity.

Kingsley Coman took in 2012 and 2013, and already in 2014 was at Juventus.

Odson Edouard was king of the academy in 2015, but there is not a single appearance at PSG, and he is currently playing at Crystal Palace after his successful tenure at Celtic.

Tangi Nianzo was crowned in 2019, and signed a year later at Bayern Munich.

This list can be continued.

The only winner who has not yet left simply has not yet had time to do so - he celebrated in 2021.

"I have to play regularly, so that's the right move for me," Diaby stated as he moved to Leverkusen.

In choosing this destination he should not have been mistaken, because the previous experience outside France turned out to be a disaster.

In January 2018 he was loaned to Crotone, the poor team from southern Italy that fought at the bottom against the decline, and was defined in the local media as a savior.

In practice, coach Walter Zanga claimed that the young player does not speak English or Italian, so communication with him is almost impossible.

His contribution was limited to just two games, and that was a waste of time.

Tukel returned the gleam to his eyes, so the final departure required special thinking.

"I chose to get out of my comfort zone," Diaby said as he traveled to Germany.

Left Paris to get minutes in Germany.

Diabi in his days at PSG with Kabani (Photo: Reuters)

In Leverkusen's terms, investment in it was very significant, but even this time language issues were a significant obstacle in the beginning.

Coach Peter Boss stressed: "Musa does not speak English or German, and that is a problem, but his time will come, and we have to wait for the right time."

The wait lasted three months, but in the band's debut Diabi scored for Freiburg, and has since been considered one of the most important players in the lineup, even if the final output was not always good.

The Frenchman knows how to make the audience happy, but his decision-making was often flawed, and he disappeared from many games.

If you will, you can liken his adaptation process to that of Vinicius at Real Madrid.

There are also some similarities in their style, and both took time to show stability in performance.

Real, by the way, were mentioned in the media as a candidate to sign Diaby last year, as were Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton.

No need to believe all the rumors, but leaving anyway did not stand not the episode.

Leverkusen announced that the Frenchman is not for sale, and extended his contract until 2025 to ensure you get a handsome return if and when the player wants to leave.

Its price has indeed risen since then, and is now one of Bayer's most important assets.

And after everyone started praising him, his most important challenge is to stay with his feet on the ground, because arrogance has ruined the careers of many young stars over the years.

His children's coach in the tiny Parisian team Esperance from the 19th arrondissement is convinced it can not happen.

"Musa has always been a very humble guy, interested only in football. Even after signing at Saint-Germain's academy, he kept going around with an old and broken phone. He has values, and he got a good education. In recent years he is our sponsor, donating money to equipment and organization "Tournaments, and even came to visit. He is always there for us when we need him. He is a great person," says Lucy C.

The perfect combination between them will also embarrass Bayern Munich?

Diabi celebrates with Florian Wurz (Photo: Danny Maron)

Gerardo Ciwana, Leverkusen's current coach, agrees.

"Musa is a professional who follows instructions and is very supportive of learning," he claims.

His approach, in which Bayer exerts even higher pressure compared to the days of Peter Boss, fits Diaby like a glove.

He started to participate much more in the defensive missions, and this was even reflected in the unusual number of cards in the first round.

He even finished 2021 with a dismissal, but the new year brought a turning point in this aspect as well - he does not have a single yellow in 2022, and he has become a much more versatile player.

Didier Deschamps noticed him early in the season.

Diaby's dream of playing in Euro 2020 did not materialize, but he was called up last September, took part in four World Cup qualifiers, and France see him as a possible anchor for building a younger squad after the generational change.

A bit odd that he got an appreciation from the national coach before Christopher Anconco, another Saint-Germain refugee in the Bundesliga who experienced an even more brilliant season in the Leipzig uniform, but that's a different story.

Diaby is not the best Parisian in Germany these days, but he is one of the most prolific players in the world in 2022, and the visit of Bayern who do not excel in defense this year comes at the right time for him.

He defeated Bayern in Munich when he first met her in 2019, but since then Leverkusen has known only losses against the champions, including in the Cup final a year and a half ago.

Today Diabi will try to put an end to this sequence, and the group believes in it.

Together with Wirtz, he is able to turn this battle into a goal celebration.

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