Abou Diaby was considered to be Patrick Vieira's replacement for Arsenal, but he was destroyed by a number of serious injuries!

It was the 1st of May in 2006, and Arsenal was playing an away match against Sunderland. It was the 90th minute of the match with Arsenal holding a comfortable lead of 0-3.

Both sets of players were just waiting for the whistle to go off when Sunderland's Dan Smith made a rash move.

Smith was Sunderland's youngster who was substituted in just a couple of minutes earlier. He tried to impress his manager by showing some 'desire' and made a wild tackle on Diaby in the 91st minute of the match.

Diaby was left lying on the pitch screaming in pain. He did manage to get on his 'good' leg and angrily point his finger at Smith, who only got a yellow card.

Wenger, along with every Arsenal player and fan, was upset with the tackle, but no one realized that this tackle broke Diaby's ankle.

Diaby needed three surgeries to repair the injury and was told by doctors that the injury could possibly be career-ending.

Diaby needed three surgeries after Smith's tackle!

According to many, including Diaby, that tackle was a critical moment in the French midfielder's career. Some even say that Dan Smith's tackle ended Diaby's career. But did it really?

History shows a bit different picture of a player that had the talent, work rate, and ability; but being susceptible to injuries and bad luck changed 'could be' into 'never was'.

Abou Diaby. Had unreal potential. Career ruined by injuries pic.twitter.com/Y7XczgLu8v — Chucky (@WiseWolfReturns) March 21, 2020

Coming through youth ranks, Diaby started his professional football career at Auxerre in 2004. Quite an oddball (comparing to other young football players), Diaby was interested in accounting, astronomy, and philosophy, before focusing completely on football.

He showed fantastic football ability for his age. He could easily dribble past players while making defense splitting passes. His role was quite offensive, as he sometimes even played in attack.

"At Auxerre I did play sometimes as a second striker and for that reason it is more natural for me to go forward." DailyMail

His work rate was also on point, but the main reason that he didn't make more appearances for Auxerre (only 14 appearances in 2 years) was, as you probably guessed it, injuries.

Problems with injuries before Smith's tackle!

Injuries prevented him to have a consistent form, and he couldn't become a permanent fixture in Auxerre's side.

Yes, Abou Diaby had problems with injuries even before that horrible tackle from Dan Smith. Still, none of those injuries were as bad as the one suffered from Smith's tackle.

Injuries coupled with a poor form ended up as the main reason why Auxerre didn't even want to keep Diaby.

As Auxerre chief Bourgoin explained Diaby departure:

"We have always kept the young players which our coach wanted to use. But Diaby did not play, so this was a strategic sale for us." BBC Sport

Abou Diaby, who is of Ivorian's descent, stood out from the rest of his teammates because of his tall but frail build. With 192 cm and (probably less than) 75 kg, Diaby looked way too thin even for the French league let alone the Premier League.

There were questions raised about his ability to withstand the whole season in a professional football well before he signed for Arsenal. Well, that didn't prevent Wenger from signing him in January 2006 for only £2 million.

Diaby's low price pointed to a risky deal, but for Arsenal (Chelsea also wanted to sign him) £2 million wasn't much. In fact, Wenger became known for this 'risky but low price' transfer deals.

Despite him being quite young, he got a squad number two at Arsenal, something that even left the player himself surprised.

Seen as Vieira's replacement!

Despite not being that similar in style or build, Diaby was seen as a long-term replacement for Patrick Vieira at Arsenal. By his own admission, he could see himself becoming a type of player Vieira was.

"I think maybe I am more attack-minded, a more technical player. Vieira is much more aggressive. He makes more of a physical impact in a game, in midfield. He is amazing. I don’t think I have this quality yet. I think I can develop in that way but he is much stronger." DailyMail

Injury from Dan Smith's tackle condemned Diaby to make only (overall) 34 appearances in his first two seasons at Arsenal.

Things did improve after that.

After nearly beheading John Terry in the League Cup final, Diaby had the best season of his career in 2007/2008 season. Although making only 15 appearances in the Premier League, Diaby was growing in importance for Arsenal. He scored four goals that season with the best one being scored against Derby.

Diaby had a bad ending to that season as he suffered another injury near the end of it. An injury that lasted well into the next season.

Nevertheless, Diaby continued his good form in the 2008/2009 campaign and become a regular player in Arsenal's young team. A team that had some amazing potential, but had plenty of injury problems.

Diaby's good form, at that time, is another proof that Dan Smith's tackle didn't end Diaby's career way back in 2006. Diaby was playing great while that unfortunate injury seemed like a half-forgotten nightmare.

Diaby's best season was in 2009/2010!

Diaby's next season (2009/2010), was the season in which he finally flourished and signaled to everyone that he isn't just a Vieira's replacement, but a player that could end up surpassing the midfield legend.

With his big steps, he could outrun most of his opponents, while his skill left everyone facing the wrong way. A good passer and dribbler, strong in the tackle, it was clear he had all the tools required.

He showed excellent performances, scored 7 goals overall, and was a key player in Arsenal's side. He also played in (overall) 40 matches that season and proved that he could last for the entire season without an injury.

After that season, big things were expected from the player, who was forming a formidable midfield partnership with Fabregas and Song.

Optimism was so high about Diaby that Arsenal signed him up on a long term contract with Wenger commenting the news with obvious delight.

"Abou is a great player with a huge presence on the football pitch and he has the potential to be an extremely influential part of Arsenal for many years to come!" The Guardian

That was as good as it got for Diaby.

He started next season well enough, but quickly suffered an injury against Bolton that blighted the rest of the season. His more 'notable' performance that season was away against Newcastle United.

It was a 'highly' controversial match where Arsenal lead 0-4 at half-time and then ended up drawing the match 4-4. Arsenal surrendered that lead primarily due to Diaby getting a red card for his reaction to Barton's tackle. It was a terrible tackle from Barton, but Diaby made a naive reaction and got sent off.

Many small injuries prevented Diaby from making any serious impact in the next season (2011/2012) as well.

Alex Song was sold to Barca during that summer and Diaby was expected to replace him in a bit more defensive role. It did seem that Diaby was getting back to his best in the 2012/2013 season.

He put in a man of the match performance against Liverpool where he managed to completely dominate the midfield away at Anfield.

That match was played on the 2nd of September. By the end of that month, Diaby got injured yet again, this time against Chelsea. Diaby made his return about 4 months later and clearly lost his good form.

Then the real moment came that basically ended Diaby's career.

The real injury that ended Diaby's career!

It was the 28th of March 2013 and Diaby was normally training at Arsenal. Somehow, he managed to injure his left knee. Scans showed torn ACL, and things only got worse from there.

From that point onwards, Diaby made only two more appearances for Arsenal before leaving the club at the end of the 2014/2015 season.

He decided to sign for Marseille where he continued to have injury problems. Diaby made only 6 overall appearances for Marseille, in the next two seasons, before finally putting an end to his professional football career at the age of 32.

Diaby decided to end his career live on TV with the following statement.

I am bringing an end to my professional career, It is the right time. For a number of years it has been difficult for me to return, with a lot of physical problems.

“It is a difficult decision but I have thought a lot about my decision and I am at ease with it. After Marseille, I gave myself a year to come back but it was harder than I thought, and I have decided to stop.”

By that time, Diaby didn't play any professional football for more than 2 years.

It was a sad end to a player that had everything to become one of the best midfield players, but injuries took it all away.

Even Patrick Vieira was sad about the way Diaby's career went.

“I am frustrated and disappointed for Abou Diaby with all the injuries he suffered, If he could have improved constantly, he would have reached an exceptional level. About his potential, he is better than me, better on a technical level, better dribbler, and better scorer too. In one word, more versatile than I was." Daily Cannon

Still, Dan Smith's tackle on Diaby wasn't the one that ended his career. That tackle was terrible, and it seriously injured Diaby, but history shows that Diaby fully recovered from that tackle.

If you have to point the finger than you have to point it at that ACL injury in 2013. This was an actual career-ending injury as Diaby only made 8 overall appearances after it.

The reality is that Diaby was injury-prone way before Smith's tackle. With a mix of fragile build that lacked muscles and a playing style that involved a lot of dribbling, Diaby would always be a victim of injuries.

Diaby still had a successful career!

Despite making only 198 overall appearances, Diaby still managed to have a 'successful' career as a football player unlike Dan Smith, whose career never took off.

You could say that Diaby was a prime example that you need more than just potential, ability, and hard work to succeed in football.

Your body needs to be able to withstand the physical aspect of the game or you will face injury after injury.

Diaby is far from being the only player that had so many injuries. Still, not many players had the potential that Diaby had.

He never became Viera's replacement, but Arsenal fans will forever remember him as the player that should have become the best, but never did.