Abou Diaby set to stay?

In what could be an unbelievable u-turn for both club and player; Abou Diaby may yet have a future to play for at Arsenal.

Last week, the Premier League announced the set of players retained and released by their clubs and the Frenchman, after an unbelievable number of injuries and issues, was let go by the club.

However, reports in The Independent claim that Diaby is currently using the Arsenal training facilities in order to help get himself fit for next season, with a view to possibly signing a new contract at the club if the boss can be persuaded that Diaby is of worth to his side for the next Premier League campaign.

With a wafer-thin 25 man squad to choose from, Abou Diaby doesn’t seem a viable option, given the player played for only 16 minutes last season out of a possible 6,840.

Wenger, however, has always been sympathetic with Diaby’s injury problems and issued a statement in November discussing the respect he holds for the 29-year-old.

“He [Diaby] is a player that I have an enormous amount of respect for.

“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.”

In April, Wenger also hinted at the possibility of a ‘pay-to-play‘ contract for Diaby: “I had a chat with him and told him how I can envisage the future. He has to make a decision,” revealed the Gunners boss.

“Of course he understands completely that he has to perform and to show that he can be present on a consistent way.

“I will see where we go from there. I wouldn’t like to go into details, we have to meet again to see where we go from what I told him. It has to be linked a little bit with his presence.”

Do you want to see Diaby at the Gunners next season? Let us know in the comments section.