Abou Diaby is one player in particular who could never quite live up to expectation at Arsenal due to the lengthy, agonising spells he spent toiling on the physio's bed, though despite his injury ridden career at the Gunners - which spanned from January 2006 to July 2015 - the Frenchman claims that the club's longstanding boss Arsene Wenger 'believed' in him, an invested faith that the current free agent will never be able to 'thank' 'Le Prof' enough for, especially in times of disparity on the sidelines.
Joining the north-Londoners at the turn of 2006 from Ligue 1 outfit Auxerre, Diaby was presumably drafted in as Patrick Vieira's natural successor in the heart of the midfield, with his grace on the ball and his overall demonstrative presence in the centre of the park being the obvious like-for-like comparisons between the two after his fellow countryman departed Wenger's side to join Juventus in the summer of 2005, although successfully filling 'Paddy's' influential void was simply not to be.