by Lewis Ambrose

Arsenal have confirmed that Abou Diaby has left the club with his contract expiring at the end of June 2015.

As of Wednesday the Frenchman is a free agent. Signed in January 2006, injuries have held the midfielder back from a bright career.

His early time at Arsenal showed his immense promise – an incredible athleticism combined with deceptively classy technique, but he has never recovered from horror injuries which slowed down his progress.

Each time Diaby did return it was a false dawn. A spectacularly dominating performance in a 2-0 win at Anfield in August 2012 seemed to be another renaissance, but the Frenchman’s body let him down again just a month later.

Diaby made 180 first-team appearances for the club, scoring 19 goals, and we will always wonder what his Arsenal career could have been.

The other players released have not made quite the same impact in north London, all featuring for the u21 side but never doing enough to force a chance with the first-team.

Goalkeeper Josh Vickers, defender Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill, midfielder Jack Jebb and forward Austin Lipman all leave the club having graduated from the Academy.

We wish them all the best for the rest of their careers, and hope they find a club soon.