View From The Sphere

Why Wenger must NOT offer this man a contract extension

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DiabyThis may come as a shock to many, it certainly did me, but Arsene Wenger is prepared to offer Abou Diaby (yes, he’s still on our books) if the lanky Frenchman can regain full fitness.

The injury-prone midfielder, once dubbed ‘the new Patrick Vieira’, has made just two appearances for the Gunners, once in the club’s Capital One Cup defeat to Southampton back in September and the other time coming from the bench in our 2-0 win over Norwich in May, since damaging his anterior cruciate ligament sustained in March 2013.

Diaby has been plagued with injuries more times than I’ve roast dinners and his future at the club looked to have been over because of this.

However, despite his long-term issues with his fitness, Wenger has recently revealed that he is ready to offer the 28-year-old an extension past the 2015 expiry date if the midfielder can prove he is finally over his injury problems.

Wenger said:

‘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.’

The Frenchman finished off by saying:

‘If he comes back, I will keep him. I always believed in him. In football, the most important thing is health.’

I’m sorry to say that Wenger’s faith in Diaby is misplaced. It’s a shame that someone with so much potential has struggled continuously with injuries but I think Wenger would be a bit naïve to offer Diaby an extension to his current deal.

The France international is strictly speaking an injury-prone player like Michael Owen and others in the past, and perhaps he will finally get back to full fitness sooner rather than later, but how long will it be before he’s sidelined again? I don’t wish bad health on the guy and hope to see him in an Arsenal shirt again, but Wenger can’t let his feelings and faith towards the player cloud his better judgment.

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