Abou Diaby set to leave Arsenal as Jack Wilshere accepts FA charge

Abou Diaby is set to leave Arsenal after the injury-plagued midfielder was named on the release list by the Premier League.

The 29-year-old Frenchman joined the Gunners from Auxerre in January 2006 but saw his progress halted by a horrific broken ankle following a tackle by Sunderland’s Dan Smith in May of that first campaign.

Despite making several comeback attempts Diaby continued to be hit by a string of fitness issues, the latest being a cruciate knee injury which sidelined him for 14 months, after which he made only one appearance last season, in the Capital One Cup tie against Southampton on September 23.

While clubs are required to list those players who are set to be out of contract after the submission deadline of late May, the Premier League stress it “should not be seen as definitive for players leaving their club.”

Manager Arsene Wenger had long defended Diaby, a player he viewed as a great asset when fit.

Speaking in November 2014, he said: “Diaby is a player that I have an enormous amount of respect for.

“He is not a fragile player. He was the victim of an assassin’s tackle that went unpunished.”

Wenger later stressed: “If Diaby is fully fit, he will have a new deal at Arsenal.”

However, by April, the Gunners boss indicated the situation was perhaps not as straightforward and that Diaby needed to prove “he can be present in a consistent way”.

Elsewhere, midfielder Jack Wilshere has accepted a charge of misconduct from the FA following anti-Tottenham chants during the FA Cup victory parade and requested a non-personal hearing. Wilshere, who came through the Gunners’ youth ranks, took to the microphone to mock the club’s fierce rivals with a foul-mouthed taunt as the players celebrated on a stage outside the Emirates Stadium on May 31.

In similar scenes to 12 months ago, Wilshere then proceeded to lead the massed ranks of Arsenal supporters in a chant which included expletives against Spurs, who again finished below their north London neighbours in the Premier League table.

Wilshere was subsequently reminded about his responsibilities by the club and also then issued an apology via Twitter for any offence caused.

The FA, though, had issued a written warning to the player for past behaviour and so moved to open a formal disciplinary case against the England midfielder. Having accepted the charge, Wilshere, currently away on international duty, requested a non-personal hearing, which will see written submissions taken by an independent disciplinary commission, which once it sits in due course will decide whether to impose the expected financial penalty or instead issue a suspension.