Arsene Wenger’s Relationship with Abou Diaby Becoming Detrimental to Arsenal

I have no hard feelings for Abou Diaby. He is a very talented footballer that deserved every chance in the world to succeed and Arsene Wenger has given him that and more. But injury after injury he continues to be unfit for first team play. Now, it’s being revealed that Wenger is preparing to offer Diaby another deal. He told the Metro:

"‘Diaby hasn’t a mental problem, but a problem of injury. He is a player for whom I have great respect. Whenever he returns, he is injured and he goes from zero. He was destroyed by a bad tackle,‘The football player needs mobility of his ankle. When your ankle mobility is restricted, you compensate with something else.‘He suffered from a very bad tackle in Sunderland six or seven years ago. He was the victim of an assassin’s tackle that was never punished. It has restricted the mobility of his ankle.‘If he comes back, I will keep him. I always believed in him. In football, the most important thing is health.’"

Arsene Wenger has had a spot on the team reserved for Diaby for the past seven years and it’s one of the main contributing factors to why he won’t sign a holding midfielder now. He’s possessed by some delusion that Diaby is the messiah that will save his team.

Could he be? Sure. So could Joel Campbell. But without any hope of playing time, we’ll never be able to see what he can do and to prolong his time at Arsenal is only going to bring about massive amounts of frustration from all parties involved.

Wenger’s statement doesn’t even make sense. An assassin tackle? Ramsey suffered a horrendous tackle at Stoke too, but if it had taken him seven years (and more, now) to recover, he wouldn’t have a place on the team.

More from Arsenal News

• 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park

It’s no fault of Diaby’s. He doesn’t try to get hurt. But it’s now reached the point that he is hurting the team because of Arsene Wenger’s unwillingness to let him go and move on. Whatever potential Diaby had has been lost to the assassins that stole career. It’s unfortunate, it really is, but to drag the team down based on some hope of a Diaby return is such profound proof that the Prof is completely detached from reality.

He better lock him up soon, because no manager in their right mind would continue to give Diaby new deals for never playing. I cannot believe that Wenger is set to offer him another contract. We will never see a holding midfielder at the Emirates and it’s all because of this bizarre love affair between Wenger and Diaby.

Follow Pain in the Arsenal on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.