Abou Diaby struggled to hold back tears as he watched a number of Arsenal fans talk about how good he could have been without injuries.
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The former Gunners midfielder spent nine years in North London after joining from Ligue 1 side Auxerre but after spending over 750 days on the sidelines, the injury-plagued Frenchman managed just 124 Premier League appearances.
In total, Diaby suffered 42 serious injuries during his time as an Arsenal player, including damage to his ACL ligament, five thigh muscle strains and 11 calf strains; not to mention two sprained ankles, three hamstring injuries and a concussion.
To put his injury woes into further perspective, the talented midfielder racked up 3,339 days at the Premier League side and spent 1,554 days [46.5 percent] of that time on the sidelines.
Despite his wretched luck with setbacks, Diaby's talent was still clear to see throughout his time under Arsene Wenger and comparisons were often drawn with his compatriot Patrick Vieira.
He quickly became a fan favourite with the Gunners faithful. In fact, two years after he left the club to join Marseille, French TV station SFR Sport visited the Emirates to ask fans what they thought of their studio guest.
As you can see in the clip above, Diaby becomes visibly emotional after watching the reaction from fans.
Back in 2016, the former Arsenal midfielder gave an eye-opening insight into his injury problems.
"They say I'm "L'Homme de Verre". It means that I'm made of glass," he told The Daily Mail.
"It can be painful, on a psychological level. They don't know how much I give every day of my life to try and recover. But hey, what can I do? This is my life story.
"A lot of things have been done over the last few years. Basically, it was big rehabilitation. I have worked a lot on the calf, on the scar tissue, on the knee problem, on the ankle problem."
Diaby points to the moment when Sunderland player Dan Smith injured his ankle as a turning point. He was just six months into his Arsenal career.
"Of course it is the moment that killed everything," he added.
"That's where it all came from. It gave me a big restriction on my ankle and I overcompensated with other parts of my body. Before that, I'd never had a muscular injury, my lifestyle was good."
Smith managed to avoid a red card despite the severity of the challenge.
Diaby retired in 2019 at the age of 32 after 214 senior games.
Featured Image Credit: SFR Sport 1/YouTube
Topics: Arsenal, Premier League
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