Abou Diaby's football career was blighted by injuries.The defensive midfielder was touted as the next Patrick Vieira at Arsenal. And during his early years, he showed he might just have the potential to live up to that enormous tag.But then came the injuries.When we're talking about the most injury-prone footballers in history, Diaby is certainly up there.Itâs claimed he suffered 42 serious injuries during his time at the club. Diaby joined Arsenal in 2005 but left 10 years later having played just 124 times.
Diaby's injury vs Sunderland in 2006
But it's an injury he sustained in the 2005/06 season that left his career hanging by a thread.
It came during an away match at Sunderland. Arsenal were winning 3-0 in the final minute of the match as they eased to a comfortable three points at the end of the season.
In just a few weeks, they would be playing in the Champions League final against Barcelona.
However, Diaby wouldn't be in Paris after a quite shocking tackle late in the game by Sunderland's Dan Smith.
Smith caught Diaby high above the ankle, leaving the Arsenal man screaming in pain.
Somehow, referee Dermot Gallagher showed Smith just a yellow card for his assault.
Not only was Diaby ruled out of the Champions League final but he needed three surgeries and eight months of rehabilitation before he stepped on a football pitch again.
He never was quite the same player.
VIDEO: The horror tackle that ruined Diabyâs career
Wenger threatened to âsueâ Smith for the tackle
After the match, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted he was willing to âsueâ Smith for his tackle.
Wenger described Smithâs challenge as one of âwicked stupidityâ and said: âIf you do that to a guy in the street you go to jail.â
He added: âThe guy who harms you in life has to be punished. I am very upset and very disappointed with the tackle. Having watched it again I just feel I will not leave this case there because there was bad intention in the tackle.
âThere was only one intention in this tackle â to hurt the player â and itâs a career-threatening tackle. I will take legal advice to see how far I can go.â
Wenger remembered the tackle many years on
Many years later, Diaby was still struggling with injuries and Wenger couldnât hide his disappointment at how his career had panned out.
âHe is a player that I have an enormous amount of respect for him,â Wenger said in 2014.
âEvery time he comes back, he has to start from zero with another injury. He was a victim of competition.
âA footballer needs his ankle. He was destroyed by a bad tackle at Sunderland 6 or 7 years ago which altered his ankle.
âHe is not a fragile player. He was the victim of an assassinâs tackle that went unpunished.â
Dan Smith hit back at Arsene Wenger
However, following those quotes, Smith hit back at Wenger insisting that his tackle wasnât âmaliciousâ.
âIt was not a malicious tackle, he has had other injuries since, as he had before,â Smith said. âFor Arsene Wenger to say that on television⦠for me, heâs looking for a scapegoat.
âThis is my personal opinion. I never meant to hurt anyone, I never intended to hurt. The referee saw it clearly, I did not receive a red card, I do not even remember if I was warned. It was just a late challenge, that you see every weekend. There is one chance in a million that there is a serious injury. He had the ball when I was already running.
âI have compassion for him, it was not easy, he has had a lot of injuries since. But if you take all of his career, you can not say he missed his life because of this injury. The last time I checked, he still earned 60,000 pounds a week while I work full-time in Australia.â
Wengerâs tribute to Diaby when he left Arsenal
Diaby eventually had to leave Arsenal a year later in 2015 and Wenger paid tribute to the midfielder.
âItâs one of the saddest moments for us at Arsenal not to have had the opportunity to get the best out of Abou Diaby because of injury,â he said.
âIâm very sad because this boy is a massive and a huge talent. Itâs sad as well because he didnât deserve what he got. Itâs sad as well because heâs a very serious player.
âHe was always at home every night, prepared well every day and was not rewarded.
âHe was the closest to Patrick Vieira we have seen here, with even a good offensive potential. Itâs very sad.â
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