Arsenal thought they signed game changing midfielder but he suffered awful luck

13 January 2024 , 06:30

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Abou Diaby would suffer terrible luck with injuries during his spell at Arsenal (Image: Kent Gavin)

A player who promised so much, but could not enjoy the career he deserved. Abou Diaby's footballing career was blighted by injuries, preventing the French midfielder from reaching his true potential, despite being held in high regard by the Arsenal faithful.

Indeed, Arsenal fans were fully aware of the talent that he possessed and waited patiently to see Diaby flourish at the club. But this never happened and his playing days slowly began to fade away, resulting in an early retirement at the age of 32.

On the anniversary of his arrival in north London in 2006, Mirror Football takes a look back on his career of frustration and missed opportunities.

Joining Arsenal and becoming the next Patrick Vieira

Diaby admits to feeling pressure regarding following in the footsteps of Patrick Vieira

Diaby signed for Arsenal from French side Auxerre on January 13, 2006. Having sold Patrick Vieira to Juventus in July 2005, the Gunners were looking to fill the void left in midfield by their talismanic figure.

This was a dream move for Diaby, who now had the chance to become an integral player for the north London side. The pressure of being billed as the next Vieira did take its toll on Diaby, though that did not take away from his enjoyment of representing the club.

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"Playing for Arsenal was a dream come true. I have no shame in saying that. " he told Arsenal FC. "First, I have to admit that I did feel pressure because Patrick Vieira is a monument here and people have this tendency to look at the past all the time.

Diaby was compared to Vieira and expected to act as his replacement

"It was a kind of pressure but I just wanted to be myself at the end of the day. Obviously we have similarities', but I thought we were different as well. At some stage I just thought, 'I need to be myself' and that is really the pressure I would say."

"It definitely had a big impact on my career."

Dreams of becoming the next Vieira were cut short on May 1, 2006. Diaby was on the receiving end of a horror challenge by Sunderland's Dan Smith, which would shape his remaining years as a player.

The Frenchman's former manager at Auxerre claimed that Diaby struggled with injuries in France prior to making his Premier League move, but this time was different. He would return from this incident ten months later, but the injuries just kept coming back over the years.

Diaby's career took a turn for the worse after his injury at Sunderland

In truth, it prevented the 34-year-old from becoming the player he could have been: a sad reality he has now grown to accept.

"I wanted to become one of the best in the world. I haven't done it because I had injuries: that's my story," he told Arsenal FC. "With ifs and buts, you could rewrite any story. It definitely had a big impact on my career. Before that happened, I didn't know what these muscular injuries were. This accident created more injuries after that.

Diaby struggled to stay fit for the remainder of his playing career

"At that time I was only 19 or 20. You get injured and just think, 'I will get my treatment and go back on the pitch'. When I came back on the pitch afterwards, I knew that something was different.

"I lost a lot of flexibility in my ankle, I wasn't as quick and I knew something had changed. I started getting injured often and getting muscular injuries and it was definitely related to that."

The player responsible for this challenge at the Stadium of Light, Smith, received plenty of criticism for the part he played in Diaby's decline.

Diaby in action at the Stadium of Light seven years after Dan Smith's tackle

But the former Arsenal man holds no grudges against the player, despite the damage this caused.

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He said: "When you're young, you dream of being one of the best players and you play for a great team, then suddenly you feel like it will be difficult to achieve this goal because something is wrong with your health and your body. To be honest, I never blamed him. Football can be violent sometimes and I get this violence from football. Even if he walked past, I wouldn't recognise him."

Earning the patience of Arsene Wenger

Diaby is full of respect for his former boss

Diaby managed only 180 appearances over a ten-year period at the club, becoming a player that manager Arsene Wenger could not rely upon.

He made 40 appearances in all competitions in the 2009/10 season, his highest number of any campaign, but things gradually worsened from this point onwards. Diaby featured in 42 matches in the five seasons that followed as the clock began to tick on his Arsenal career. But despite his injury struggles, he retained the support of Wenger up until his final days at the club.

Explaining how the former Gunners' boss showed understanding through difficult times, Diaby said: "He is someone who is able to understand the personality of his players and uses that to make them successful. The players then feel good. The most important thing for me was that he believed in me.

"He is someone who understood me. He is someone who was enormously patient with me. Things started well but afterwards I had injuries and problems etc. But he always there for me. I will never be able to thank him enough for what he did for me”, he said glowingly to SFR Sport, via Get French Football.

"I thought I'd killed him."

Chelsea ran out 2-1 winners in the 2007 League Cup final

For someone who had been on the receiving end of unfortunate challenges his whole career, injuring John Terry was not a nice moment for Diaby. Defending a corner during the 2007 League Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea, the Frenchman attempted to clear a loose ball which Terry went to head.

The impact of this kick resulted in the Blues' skipper being knocked unconscious and Diaby fearing the worse. Such was the seriousness of the incident at the time, the towering midfielder recalls 'praying on his knees' that Terry would not die as a result of his actions.

Diaby was also forced to leave the pitch in the final after hurting his foot

Reflecting on this moment with Arsenal FC, Diaby said: "It's strange because one week before the final, I was watching a game with my brother. I could see on free-kicks, he [Terry] was putting his head there even when the defender wanted to kick the ball.

"I said to my brother, 'This guy is crazy and one day someone will kick his face'. And it was me. But I was really, really scared. I thought I had killed him. I was on my knees and if you see some pictures I was on my knees saying, 'God, I don't want to kill someone. Please no.'

"He was laying down unconscious and I think Gary Lewin (former Arsenal physiotherapist) came and got him up. I had to go out after because his chin is very strong! He hurt my foot, so I had to go out after."

Tom Cavilla