9-Year Arsenal Veteran Retires From Professional Football

Former Arsenal player, Abou Diaby has officially announced his retirement from professional football.

The 32-year-old said on the French television channel, RMC’s “Footissime” show, “I am bringing an end to my professional career. It is the right time. For a number of years, it has been difficult for me to return, with a lot of physical problems.”

“It is a difficult decision but I have thought a lot about my decision and I am at ease with it. After Marseille, I gave myself a year to come back but it was harder than I thought, and I have decided to stop.”

Diaby’s entire senior career was diseased with constant injuries, forcing him to spend most of his days in the rehabilitation centre rather than on the pitch. The Frenchman was able to make only 16 appearances over his final 4 seasons with the Gunners.

The former midfielder was brought in from Auxerre in 2006 to succeed into Patrick Vieira’s spot in the Arsenal midfield. For a while, it seemed like Arsene Wenger had played his magic hand to find such a remarkable talent but Diaby’s career was not meant to reach such lofty heights.

He ended up leaving the North London outfit after 9 years of service, 14 goals and 124 Premier League appearances. The former Paris Saint-Germain player did try to mount a comeback by signing with Olympique Marseille but, unfortunately, had could not overturn the curse of injuries, making only 4 appearances in his debut season.

With his touch, physicality, tackling and dribbling ability, Diaby had all the tools to become a formidable name in the Premier League and in the Arsenal ranks.