Abou Diaby Retires From Football

A former Arsenal player has quit playing football by announcing his retirement from the game at the age of 32.

Abou Diaby spent nine years at Arsenal making 180 appearances in the process but it was quite unfortunate that he had to battle with too many injury worries at a time.

His woes began three weeks before the 2006 UEFA Champions League final against Barcelona when a challenge from Sunderland's Danny Smith fractured and dislocated his ankle.

The Frenchman had surgery upon surgery, gave a tough fight to return to his best, all to no avail and had to be eventually released by Arsenal in the summer of 2015.

Diaby's story did not still change upon arriving Marseille as he only made six appearances, the last of which came in 2017.

The midfielder was so loved by fans. Even former Arsenal boss who maintained faith in him in hard times was so pained that they had to let him leave the club.

“It’s 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", Wenger who signed him as a teenager from Auxerre said.

“I’m very sad because this boy is a massive and a huge talent. It’s sad as well because he didn’t deserve what he got.”

On the decision to say goodbye to football, Diaby said on SFR Sport, “I have put an end to my professional career. The time has come. For a number of years, it was difficult for me to come back with a lot of physical issues. I kept asking the question, but my body wasn’t following.

“It’s a difficult decision. This decision marks the end of a chapter but a new one starts. I’ve comfortable with this decision, it’s been well-considered.

“After Marseille, I gave myself a year to have the chance to come back but it turned out to be more complicated than I thought and I decided to stop. Even in my daily life, I was embarrassed.

“From there, you had to make a decision and the right one. Today, I aspire to undertake, to return to the world of football also someday. I have clear ideas.”

We love you Abou! We will miss you. It is saddening that you had to rush out of the game as a result of your predicament. Be rest assured that we will always stand by you. Move on and win.