Former Arsenal star Abou Diaby nicknamed 'the man of glass' in France

Injury-ravaged: Abou Diaby has made two appearances for Marseille this term
(FRED TANNEAU/AFP/Getty Images)
Tom Dutton4 September 2016

Former Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby has said it hurts to hear people mock his luckless injury streak.

The 30-year-old made just 16 Premier League appearances in his final four seasons with the Gunners during an injury-ravaged stint in north London spanning from 2006 to 2015.

Diaby then signed for Marseille on a free transfer last summer, but only made his first appearance for the Ligue 1 club in March after picking up a training injury.

And the Frenchman, who has made two league appearances so far this term, has revealed jokes made at his expense have had a pyschological impact.

"They say I’m “L’Homme de Verre”. It means that I’m made of glass," he told the Daily Mail. "It can be painful, on a psychological level. They don’t know how much I give every day of my life to try and recover. But hey, what can I do? This is my life story."

The start of Diaby's injury woes can be traced back to 2006 when he suffered a broken leg following a crunch challenge from Sunderland's Dan Smith.

Arsene Wenger was critical of the challenge at the time and even suggested he would seek legal advice to win 'justice' for Diaby.

And the former Gunners star reflects on the 3-0 victory at the Stadium of Light as the moment which prevented him becoming the 'player he should have been'.

"Of course it is the moment that killed everything," Diaby added. "That’s where it all came from. It gave me a big restriction on my ankle and I overcompensated with other parts of my body. Before that, I’d never had a muscular injury, my lifestyle was good.

"But really, there is no resentment any more. I left it behind a long time ago. The only thing I wish is that it had happened later in my career. If it happened when I was 28, things might have been different. Between 19 and 27, I would have had time to progress, play every week and be the player I should have been."

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