Today was the day that a number of Premiership clubs announced a list of their respective players released as out of contract and not being offered new deals, there were some household well respected names within those lists, however the one that caught my eye was Abou Diaby who has been released by Arsenal.
Diaby, 29 year old midfielder has been besieged by injuries for a number of years, currently he is out injured with a cruciate ligament injury, and has only made 2 appearances in 2 years, so can totally understand after 9 years at being at Arsenal since his £2 million move from Auxerre, that Arsenal have cut their losses, however….
This player if fit, is such a good player, he floats over the ground, can tackle can play defensive midfield or attacking midfield, can score goals and when first came on the scene at Arsenal was tagged as the next Patrick Viera for obvious reasons, for me if fit, he would of been one of the top midfielders in the game, people talk about Paul Pogba as the next big thing, Diaby was just as good.
The player had won 16 caps for France, and represented his country in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I remember watching him play against Liverpool in 2010, scoring the winning goal, and he was immense that day, controlled the midfield, Liverpool could not handle him.
Due to his injuries he missed out on many big matches for Arsenal including the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, he has amassed injuries to knees,ankles, thigh, hamstrings etc, and in 9 years played 124 matches in total.
I would like to think a club would take a punt on him, just to give him a chance, pay as you play contract or something along those lines, as he is still young and I cannot get out of my head that performance in 2010, he was majestic, if he can get fit , if someone is willing to take a gamble, if….