Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will allow released midfielder Abou Diaby to use the club's state of the art training facilities to maintain his fitness as he searches for a new club.

Diaby was released from the club on Wednesday afternoon after an injury-hit nine-year spell that saw him only play 180 games for the club - he played just 83 minutes for the club after March 2013.

He played just 16 minutes out of a possible 6,840 in the Premier League since the start of the 2013/14 season.

However, according to L'Equipe journalist Bruno Constant, Diaby may yet be offered a new pay-as-you-play contract with Arsenal.

Back in November, Gunners' manager Arsene Wenger had denied suggestions that the 29-year-old was injury prone, pointing to the fact that the player had fractured his ankle after a tackle from Sunderland's Dan Smith in 2006, and never truly recovered.

"He [Diaby] is a player that I have an enormous amount of respect for," explained Wenger.

"Every time he comes back, he has to start from zero with another injury. He was a victim of competition.

"A footballer needs his ankle. He was destroyed by a bad tackle [by Dan Smith in May 2006 that saw Diaby suffer a fractured ankle] at Sunderland six or seven years ago which altered his ankle.