According to reports from The Daily Star this morning, former Arsenal star Abou Diaby rejected the chance to join Liverpool this summer before agreeing a move to Marseille.
The Gunners released the former France international at the end of last season after recording just 32 Premier League appearances in five years.
Indeed, Diaby’s Arsenal career was infamously dominated by injury problems; from nine-and-a-half campaigns in North London he managed 30 outings across all competitions only twice, despite being held in particularly high esteem by Arsene Wenger.
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The 6 foot 4 midfielder decided to return to Ligue 1 earlier this week, nearly a decade after leaving former club Auxerre, with reports confirming his Marseille deal materialising yesterday evening.
He’s known to have rejected a contract offer from Tony Pulis’ West Brom in the process despite completing a medical at the Hawthorns last week – a fixed salary alongside substantial appearance bonuses – and The Daily Star, citing French publication L’Equipe, claim Liverpool made the 29 year-old a similar offer.
Wenger has described Diaby as ‘the biggest regret of his career’, recently telling reporters; “I think Diaby is the biggest regret of my career. He is a guy who has been severely injured and it is not acceptable, we have paid the price for that but I hope things turn around for him and they go well.
“First and foremost, he really didn’t achieve his potential unfortunately. I think he had great potential and he could only show that at certain periods of time.
“I’m a really big fan of Abou Diaby and I really hope from the bottom of my heart that he can end his career without any more injury concerns.”
Sorry to hear Diaby is leaving the Premier League, he was a very decent player, when available he provided a physical thrust in Arsenal’s midfield which none of their other players were really capable of.
I thought he would be able to do a good job at West Brom, and if Darren Fletcher’s excellent post-January form is anything to go by, might have a good chance of being rehabilitated physically. That said, who could resist the temptation to go and work under Bielsa?