Abou Diaby

Vassiriki Abou Diaby (born 11 May 1986), known as Abou Diaby, is a French former professional footballer.

He played primarily in a box to box role, adept at both attacking and defending, and was described as a player who was "languid, elusive, and athletic" that could either "dribble past opponents or slip passes to team-mates".

Of Ivorian descent, Diaby also possessed "superb touch" and "excellent close control".

Diaby's career was hampered by numerous repetitive injuries, a problem that existed from his time in France.

His physical appearance and positional preference evoked comparisons to Arsenal compatriot Patrick Vieira.

Diaby began his football career playing for hometown club CM Aubervilliers in December 1996.

While at Aubervilliers, Diaby was coached by David Giguère and Alain Mboma, the latter now serving as the manager of Red Star Paris.

After two years at the club, Diaby's quick progression at the amateur club led to a move to nearby semi-professional outfit Red Star Paris in Saint-Ouen.

While in the club's youth academy, Diaby was supervised by youth academy director Yves-Henri Gergaud and was described by club youth coach Marco Lienel as a player who was "fairly quiet and quite frail".

Diaby started his career at the club playing on its under-13 team in the Division Honneur Régionale of the Île-de-France region.

In 1998, he joined Red Star Paris.

A year later, Diaby was selected to attend the INF Clairefontaine academy.

He spent four years at the academy while simultaneously training with Red Star.

A year before departing Clairefontaine, Diaby moved to professional club Paris Saint-Germain.

Following an administrative error by club officials which made Diaby a free agent, he joined the academy of Auxerre.

He is the son of a long-distance truck driver and developed an interest into the sport of football after becoming fascinated by several players who played on the 1998 FIFA World Cup-winning team, most notably midfield stalwart Patrick Vieira, whom Diaby describes as "a monument to French football".

Diaby was also adept at playing other sports such as basketball and boxing.

Of Ivorian descent, Diaby is a practicing Muslim and, while growing up, developed a fascination towards the subjects of religion, philosophy, science, and astronomy.

Diaby became interested in accountancy after taking a course at the age of 17, while he was at the Auxerre youth academy.

After spending a year playing with Red Star, in 1999, he was selected to attend the INF Clairefontaine academy.

While at Clairefontaine, Diaby was a part of A la Clairefontaine, a documentary series which chronicled the lives of the France's top young footballers during their time at the academy.

During the series, an episode showed Diaby getting into a physical confrontation with Hatem Ben Arfa.

Towards the end of his development at Clairefontaine, Diaby departed Red Star to play domestic football with professional club Paris Saint-Germain, despite being a supporter of Marseille.

He spent a year at the Camp des Loges, the club's training center, from 2001 to 2002.

After his departure from Clairefontaine, Diaby was expected to sign a youth contract with Paris Saint-Germain.

Club officials wanted to keep the player, however, the club's human resources department failed to send a "letter of commitment" to Diaby's parents ahead of 30 April 2002 deadline, which resulted in the player becoming a free agent.

He spent two years in the club's youth academy before making his professional debut in the 2004–05 season.

Diaby also played in the UEFA Cup with the club.

After spending the Autumn portion of the 2005–06 season with Auxerre, in January 2006, Diaby signed with English club Arsenal on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.

He made his debut with the club that same month and scored his first goal three months later against Aston Villa.

Prior to playing for the senior team, he played on the under-19 team that won the 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship.

Diaby made his senior international debut in March 2007 in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Lithuania.

Diaby was born in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, but was raised in the Parisian commune of Aubervilliers.

He began his football career playing for hometown club CM Aubervilliers.

He has represented France at one major international tournament; the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Diaby participated in all three group stage matches the team played as a starter.

Diaby was born in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, but was raised in a housing development in Aubervilliers, a northeastern suburb of Paris.

After being released from Arsenal in 2015 following persistent injury problems, Diaby signed for French Ligue 1 side Marseille.

Diaby retired from football in February 2019.

Diaby is a former French youth international having earned caps at under-19 and under-21 level.