by Lee Hurley

On Wednesday it was reported that Abou Diaby would be leaving Arsenal as his contract expired.

Despite rumours of a pay-as-you-play deal being offered to the French midfielder, he was one of five players released by the club.

That, however, is not the end of him at Arsenal with the Telegraph reporting that he will be allowed to remain at Colney to train with his (now) former teammates.

The news will come as a surprise to no-one.

Leaving aside the obvious affection that Arsene Wenger has for Abou, the Arsenal manager lets many former players train with the club for a variety of reasons and given how he has stood by Diaby, there is no reason to think he wouldn’t still want to help him get his career on track, something that seems more and more unlikely as the months and years tick by.

The move also leaves the slight possibility of Diaby featuring for Arsenal again hanging in the air.

Wenger was always willing to offer him a new deal if he could prove his fitness, but with just 16 Premier League appearances in the last four years, even I have to concede that it is highly unlikely that we will ever see Diaby in an Arsenal shirt again.

Please prove me wrong, Abou!