Abou Diaby latest: Released Arsenal man will use training facilities - and could yet sign new deal

Oft-injured midfielder may be re-signed on pay-as-you-play deal

Tom Sheen
Thursday 11 June 2015 11:50 BST
Comments
Arsenal's Abou Diaby and Southampton's Steven Davis
Arsenal's Abou Diaby and Southampton's Steven Davis (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will allow released midfielder Abou Diaby to use the club's state of the art training facilities to maintain his fitness as he searches for a new club.

Diaby was released from the club on Wednesday afternoon after an injury-hit nine-year spell that saw him only play 180 games for the club - he played just 83 minutes for the club after March 2013.

He played just 16 minutes out of a possible 6,840 in the Premier League since the start of the 2013/14 season.

However, according to L'Equipe journalist Bruno Constant, Diaby may yet be offered a new pay-as-you-play contract with Arsenal.

Back in November, Gunners' manager Arsene Wenger had denied suggestions that the 29-year-old was injury prone, pointing to the fact that the player had fractured his ankle after a tackle from Sunderland's Dan Smith in 2006, and never truly recovered.

"He [Diaby] is a player that I have an enormous amount of respect for," explained Wenger.

"Every time he comes back, he has to start from zero with another injury. He was a victim of competition.

"A footballer needs his ankle. He was destroyed by a bad tackle [by Dan Smith in May 2006 that saw Diaby suffer a fractured ankle] at Sunderland six or seven years ago which altered his ankle.

"He is not a fragile player. He was the victim of an assassin's tackle that went unpunished."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in