It's Time for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger to Ditch Abou Diaby

Arsene Wenger called it an “assassin’s tackle,” and indeed the challenge that left Abou Diaby with a severe ankle fracture was an unsightly and malicious one. It has handicapped the French midfielder ever since.

Arsenal even threatened legal action following Sunderland’s Dan Smith’s tackle on Diaby back in 2006, with the Frenchman making just 22 appearances in the last four seasons. 

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And yet despite his injury struggles, Wenger has insisted that Diaby will be offered a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of the season should he prove his fitness.

"If he comes back I will keep him," Wenger said, per the Guardian. "I always believed in him. In football the most important thing is health."

The Arsenal boss has protested countless times that Diaby is not injury prone, but is still recovering from the broken ankle suffered eight years ago. However, the midfielder has since sustained no less than 36 different injuries in that time, somewhat undermining Wenger’s point.

“Every time he comes back he has to start from zero with another injury,” complained Wenger after the midfielder suffered another setback, as per Lee Thomas-Mason and Richard Innes of Mirror Football. “He was a victim of competition.

“He was destroyed by a bad tackle at Sunderland six or seven years ago. He is not a fragile player. He was the victim of an assassin’s tackle that went unpunished.”

Can Arsenal really afford to carry a player who contributes so little to the team? Such misfortune has savaged Diaby’s career, but Wenger should be wary of keeping a player solely through empathetic goodwill.

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Wenger’s greatest strength has always been the unshakable faith and confidence he shows in his players, even when such belief would appear from the outside to be unjustified.

Take Aaron Ramsey for instance. The Welsh midfielder’s potential was never in doubt, but a leg break in 2010 rocked Ramsey, with some even suggesting Arsenal cut their losses and sell him for what money they could get.

Now Ramsey is one of the most accomplished central midfielders in the Premier League, with Wenger’s perseverance in the Welshman a major factor in his development to where he finds himself now.

Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud will also attest to how Wenger’s faith can provide a player with the self-assurance needed to succeed at the top end of the Premier League.

But a similar turnaround with Diaby seems most unlikely. Now 28, the midfielder has made just one appearance so far this season—in the Capital One Cup defeat to Southampton.

Even if he can regain full fitness, his track record suggests another injury problem would strike soon enough. It’s finally time for Wenger to ditch Diaby when he has the chance.

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It might also be in Diaby’s best interests to seek a fresh start away from Arsenal, given how the north London club has become a toxic and torturous environment for him over the past eight years. An Emirates Stadium exit might be good for Diaby, too.

What is perhaps most galling for Arsenal is that Diaby might be the kind of player they are desperately lacking right now. With the Gunners struggling for defensive solidity, both at the back and in midfield, the Frenchman is in the mould of player Wenger could really do with.

For a number of seasons the Arsenal boss actually relied on the recovery of the midfielder, failing to buy adequate cover in his position. And Diaby is not a player to be relied upon.

It’s a possibility that Diaby could be kept on a pay-as-you-play basis, much in the same way Michael Owen played his final season at Manchester United, but Arsenal can no longer count on the Frenchman’s return, no matter the degree of regret with which his demise is regarded.

He might still be on the club’s payroll, but Diaby has been cut out of Arsenal’s future for quite some time now. For once, Wenger must concede a lost cause and release the French midfielder.