Abou Diaby

Early career

Diaby began his football career playing for hometown club CM Aubervilliers in December 1996. While at Aubervilliers, Diaby was coached by David Giguère and Alain Mboma, the latter now serving as the manager of Red Star Paris. After two years at the club, Diaby's quick progression at the amateur club led to a move to nearby semi-professional outfit Red Star Paris in Saint-Ouen. While in the club's youth academy, Diaby was supervised by youth academy director Yves-Henri Gergaud and was described by club youth coach Marco Lienel as a player who was "fairly quiet and quite frail". Diaby started his career at the club playing on its under-13 team in the Division Honneur Régionale of the Île-de-France region. After spending a year playing with Red Star, in 1999, he was selected to attend the INF Clairefontaine academy. While at Clairefontaine, Diaby was a part of A la Clairefontaine, a documentary series which chronicled the lives of the France's top young footballers during their time at the academy. During the series, an episode showed Diaby getting into a physical confrontation with Hatem Ben Arfa.

Auxerre

2002–2004

Towards the end of his development at Clairefontaine, Diaby departed Red Star to play domestic football with professional club Paris Saint-Germain, despite being a supporter of Marseille. He spent a year at the Camp des Loges, the club's training center, from 2001 to 2002. After his departure from Clairefontaine, Diaby was…

Youth

Diaby played under manager Jean Gallice. Gallice, initially, called up Diaby at under-18 level for a match against Greece in November 2003. Diaby, however, was forced to withdraw from the squad after suffering an injury while playing domestically. He made his youth international debut at under-19 level in a 2–1 friendly match win over Turkey. In qualifying for the 2005 European Under-19 Football Championship, Diaby appeared in all six matches as France finished both the first qualifying round and the Elite Round undefeated. In the tournament, he missed the team's opening 1–1 group stage draw with England due to suspension, but returned to the starting lineup in the team's 3–1 victory over Norway in the second group stage match. Diaby, subsequently, started every remaining match, including the championship match against England. France won the match 3–1 giving the nation its sixth under-19 title and Diaby his first international honor. In total with the under-19 team, he featured in 12 matches and scored no goals. At under-21 level, Diaby made his debut on 28 February 2006 in a friendly match against Slovakia. He appeared as a substitute as France won the match 2–1. Due to suffering a fractured ankle domestically, Diaby missed the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Due to repetitive injuries, he missed every qualifier for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and made only one more appearance for the team, which occurred in a 1–1…

Diaby is often described as a typical box-to-box midfielder; a midfielder who is adept both offensively and defensively. While he can play as a defensive midfielder, Diaby has often attempted to distance himself from that position, admitting that "I am better if I have a holding midfielder with me". His club manager Arsène Wenger describes him similarly stating "He (Diaby) is more of an offensive player. He is not a defensive-minded player and he's not a holding player. He's a player who crosses the field at ease, goes from box to box like it's no distance and has good power as well". During his early years with Auxerre, he was often used as an attacking midfielder or a support striker due to his technical ability, close control, and dexterity to dribble past opponents or slip passes to teammates. Upon Diaby signing with Arsenal, club manager Wenger likened him to former club player Patrick Vieira. Wenger compared the two primarily because of the similarities between each player's physical appearance and positional preference. While the two are similar in appearance, Diaby has admitted that there are huge differences, stating, "I think maybe I am more attack-minded, a more technical player," and, "Vieira is much more aggressive. He makes more of a physical impact in a game, in midfield. He is amazing. I don't think I have this quality yet. I think I can develop in that way but he is much stronger." In 2009, Wenger echoed Diaby's sentiments, stating, "I believe Vieira was…

Diaby was born in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, but was raised in a housing development in Aubervilliers, a northeastern suburb of Paris. He is the son of a long-distance truck driver and developed an interest into the sport of football after becoming fascinated by several players who played on the 1998 FIFA World Cup-winning team, most notably midfield stalwart Patrick Vieira, whom Diaby describes as "a monument to French football". Diaby was also adept at playing other sports such as basketball and boxing. Of Ivorian descent, Diaby is a practicing Muslim and, while growing up, developed a fascination towards the subjects of religion, philosophy, science, and astronomy. Diaby became interested in accountancy after taking a course at the age of 17, while he was at the Auxerre youth academy.