If you know, you know.
Paul Pogba was asked on French television Canal Plus to name the players who he thinks are better than him in central midfield, and his answer, unsurprisingly, included many of the usual suspects.
He named Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Champions League winners Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.
But then there was another name that many people may not have expected: Abou Diaby.
The former Arsenal and France midfielder has had a career consistently hampered by injuries which have no doubt ruined any potential legacy he might have had, but Pogba himself admitted he won’t be forgetting him anytime soon.
According to GetFootballNewsFrance.com, this was his answer in full:
“There is Iniesta, who is having an amazing career. Then there are the Kroos’, Modric’s of this world, David Silva, De Bruyne, Yaya Touré, even Abou Diaby.
“Who many forget about. He is an exceptional box-to-box player. Sadly he had a lot of injuries. He was someone who when he was at Arsenal he was exceptional. We forget but he was exceptional. For France he was great. Abou Diaby is a player I watched and respect a lot. I won’t forget him. I learned a lot from him.”
Diaby’s talent certainly deserved far more than 16 caps for his country and 14 Premier League goals in 124 appearances, and he now finds himself a free agent after two unsuccessful seasons at Marseille, where he played only six times and again spent time on the treatment table following an ankle operation.
On his day the midfielder was a one man wrecking ball through midfield, capable of sublime touches and passes as well as lung-bursting carries from box-to-box. Had he managed to shake off his persistent injuries there is simply no telling what he would have gone on to achieve.
It’s not hard to see why Pogba might hold such a player in high regard.
