Arsene Wenger has hinted that Abou Diaby may not play for Arsenal this season with the player making slow progress in his recovery from a serious knee injury.

The French international ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee back in March and was initially ruled out for eight to nine months, however, a series of setbacks appear to have curtailed notions he could help Arsenal in their title push and France in their bid for World Cup glory.

“His recovery is going slowly, he is still on a long-term recovery programme,” Wenger told assembled media on Friday.

The boss added that he was ‘unsure’ if the midfielder would feature this season, despite the fact the Premier League season still has four months to run.

Diaby returned to famed French academy Clairfontaine in the initial stages of his recovery and had hoped to be running again by July but having surrendered the number 2 shirt in favour of 24, required further surgery in October.

Diaby has 178 appearances to his name after nine seasons on the books at Arsenal and will have one year left on his contract at the end of the summer. It means he could still feature in the red and white next term, but he’s going to need a real change in luck…