From the past 3 years, AbouDiaby has made less than 16 appearances for Arsenal and his time has ran out as the French player has been released by the Premier League club.
AbouDiaby is a player who has always struggled with injuries and this has seriously hampered his playing time not only with Arsenal but with his previous club as well.
Before joining Arsenal, Diaby was a player of the French side Auxerre and injuries was a huge factor that made it impossible for him to become a player who can consistently perform at a high level.
There are a few players who are unable to play at their best due to injuries and AbouDiaby is certainly one of them as the French midfielder has went through a total of 40 injuries in 9 years as a player of Arsenal.
In the last 4 seasons, Diaby has played only 22 matches in all competitions for the Premier League club. Groin strains, pelvic wrenches, ankle sprains and cruciate tears are just some of the injuries that Diaby has sustained during his playing career.
Having sustained 40 injuries for Arsenal, this means that AbouDiaby has had to make a comeback from physical struggles on 40 different occasions but his time has reached it’s end as Arsene Wenger has cut his ties with the player.
Back in November 2014, Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger spoke to the media and said that Dan Smith’s tackle to AbouDiaby was something that the French midfielder could never truly recover from. The manager of Arsenal even considered this tackle to be: ‘’an assassin’s tackle’’
Wenger said:”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.He is not a fragile player. He was the victim of an assassin’s tackle that went unpunished.”
Dan Smith’s tackle definitely did affect AbouDiaby but even before that he was consistently struggling with injuries.