After the unexpected departure of former Arsenal midfield general and club captain (Patrick Vieira) at the end of 2004 – 2005 season. Arsenal were in search of the new Patrick Vieira, who would continue from where the former club captain (and arguably an Arsenal legend) had stopped in term of his power, technical astute, midfield dominance and steel.
It didn’t take long before Arsenal spotted a rare gem, who would fill in the vacuum left by their ex club captain “Vieira” from the French League club Auxerre.
Abou Diaby was an upcoming kid with a great prospect, who had only managed to play few first team matches for Auxerre before signing for Arsenal on 13th January 2006, at the age of twenty, during the winter transfer window. His talent was never in doubt nor questioned.
As soon as he signed for Arsenal, he was given the jersey number 2, which was vacant after the retirement of Lee Dixon.
His Arsenal career started with a cameo from the substitution bench against Everton before having a full match to himself during the League Cup match against Wigan.
Not so long after, his attributes drew him the comparison with the club ex-captain Vieira due to his height (6ft 4in), style of play, penetrating movements, strength and ability to control the flow of the game from the midfield. He possess an insane ability to keep hold of the ball and dribble pass any opponent effortlessly. As time went on, the comparison became more obvious.
Playing in his preferred role as a box to box midfielder, Diaby was able to showcase his athleticism, passing ability and dexterity to dribble his way out from a tight angle. Though Diaby was more offensive minded than Vieira, he never ignored his defensive duties. His offensive ability was as good as his defensive ability but he never regarded himself as a defensive midfield option.
WATCH: How good would Abou Diaby be without injures?
After a couple of first team games for Arsenal, Diaby got a call up to the French national team during Euro 2008 qualifier. Two years after, he was listed among the 23 players to play for France during 2010 FIFA world cup, which resulted in a poor outing for the French National team but Diaby was a stand out performer and arguably the best French player of the tournament.
During an EPL match against Sunderland on 1st of May, 2007, Diaby was badly hit with a strong tackle by Dan Smith. This became one of his several unfortunate incident on the field of play, and led to him been on the treatment table quite consistently afterwards, having over 30 injury records during his Arsenal career.
In total, he (Diaby) was able to have 124 match appearances for Arsenal, scoring 24 goals and 17 assists.
Diaby’s Arsenal career and appearances became more consistent on the treatment table rather than on the field of play. After several injuries, on 10th of June 2015, Abou Diaby was released by Arsenal and brought an end to a bright career that never happened.
Nevertheless, regardless of his injuries, Abou Diaby will always be known as a lifetime Gooner who possessed the ability to be an Arsenal legend.
WATCH: Abou Diaby on his career, injuries, recoveries, Vieira and what might have been
List of Abou Diaby injuries –
