vassiriki abou diaby french pronunciation abu djabi born 11 may 1986 known as abou diaby is a french professional footballer who plays for english club arsenal and the france national team he plays primarily in a box to box role as he is adept in both attacking and defending and is described as a player who is languid elusive and athletic that can either dribble past opponents or slip passes to teammates of ivorian descent diaby also possesses superb touch and excellent close control however on the negative front he often struggles with repetitive injuries a problem that has existed since his time in france his physical appearance and positional preference have evoked comparisons to arsenal legend and compatriot patrick vieiradiaby was born in the 10th arrondissement of paris but was raised in the parisian commune of aubervilliers he began his football career playing for hometown club cm aubervilliers in 1998 he joined red star paris a year later diaby was selected to attend the clairefontaine academy he spent four years at the academy while simultaneously training with red star a year before departing clairefontaine diaby moved to professional club paris saintgermain following an administrative error by club officials which made diaby a free agent he joined the academy of auxerre he spent two years in the clubs youth academy before making his professional debut in the 200405 season diaby also played in the uefa cup with the club after spending the autumn portion of the 200506 season with auxerre in january 2006 diaby signed with english club arsenal on a longterm contract for an undisclosed fee he made his debut with the club that same month and scored his first goal three months later against aston villa diaby suffered a severe ankle fracture five months after joining arsenal and has since struggled with numerous injuriesdiaby is a former french youth international having earned caps at under19 and under21 level prior to playing for the senior team he played on the under19 team that won the 2005 uefa european under19 football championship diaby made his senior international debut in march 2007 in a uefa euro 2008 qualifying match against lithuania he has represented france at one major international tournament the 2010 fifa world cup diaby participated in all three group stage matches the team played as a starter