Sources: Aston Villa & Leeds chasing €30m star, Chelsea could also get involved

Aston Villa and Leeds United are among the main clubs showing an interest in the potential signing of Strasbourg midfielder Habib Diarra.

The versatile 21-year-old has shown himself to be an outstanding young talent with his performances in Ligue 1 in recent times, and well-connected sources in the industry have informed CaughtOffside that he could be on the move this summer.

No formal talks or negotiations have taken place yet, but CaughtOffside have been told that Strasbourg could be willing to sell Diarra for a fee in the region of €30m amid interest from Premier League clubs.

Villa and Leeds have been closely monitoring Diarra, while Everton, Nottingham Forest, Brighton, and Eintracht Frankfurt are also understood to be admirers of the Senegal international.

Could Chelsea use Strasbourg links to sign Habib Diarra?

An interesting name to watch in all this could be Chelsea, who are not currently thought to be showing a strong interest in Diarra, but who have links with Strasbourg due to them also being owned by Blue Co.

Although Chelsea’s interest could not be confirmed at this stage, one well-placed source speculated that “Chelsea could also play a role in the transfer process”.

It’s not yet clear if this will amount to anything, but one imagines CFC might see this as an opportunity to sign Diarra first, and take control of his future.

This would allow them to loan Diarra out to the other interested clubs to either increase his value before selling at a profit, or taking a closer look at him before using him in their own first-team.

What next for Habib Diarra?

Diarra has played in central midfield, out wide, and even up front for Strasbourg, finishing with four goals and five assists in Ligue 1 last season.

It seems clear that the former French youth international has a big future in the game, so it will be interesting to see who can win the race for his signature this summer.

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