PLAYER PROFILE

Vassiriki Abou Diaby

Position: Midfield

Height: 6'3

Weight: 11st 11lbs

Date of Birth: 1986-05-11 Paris, France

Vassiriki Abou Diaby

French U-19 midfielder Vassiriki Abou Diaby became Arsenal's first signing of 2006 when he joined from Auxerre in January.

While the Gunners transfer window signing of 16-year-old Theo Walcott garnered all the press attention Diaby may be the more crucial player in the long term. He slipped in to Highbury almost unnoticed and then announced himself with some outstanding early performances that drew the inevitable comparison with Patrick Viera.

Even Arsene Wenger, normally keen to play down praise for his young Euro charges, was impressed. "He is strong, he is good on the ball, he has a great engine for 90 minutes and he is good in the air as well," said the Arsenal coach.

"In every game it looks like he is getting stronger. I am very surprised by how quickly he has adapted because it usually takes a long time."

Diaby was a product of the Auxerre youth system, but had barely broken into the first team before Arsenal, always appraised of promising young players in Europe, swooped to bring him to London.

He played 16 times in the 05/06 season and played a further 13 times in 06/07. He continued his development in 2007/08 and remains an exciting prospect for the Gunners' future.