French midfielder, Abou Diaby has been blighted by injury troubles over the past few years and has not featured for the Gunners since last March after suffering a cruciate ligament knee injury. The 27-year-old was expected to make his long awaited return in the forthcoming weeks but has suffered a new setback in his rehabilitation.

According to Metro, Wenger has confirmed that Diaby is nowhere close to making a return to the first team. Diaby, who has had extensive rehab in the Middle East, was hoping to make a return for Arsenal in early 2014 and feature for his country in next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

However, the report suggests that the mega injury-prone midfielder will be out for the remainder of the season since his recovery is not going according to plan. Wenger said, “His recovery is going very slowly. Will he play again this season? I don’t know. He is still on a long-term recovery programme.”

The report also states that Diaby hoped to return shortly, but Arsenal do not expect him to play a part this season and are unwilling to put a timescale on his return. Such a shame for a player who looked the next Patrick Viera at one point in time but has has never had a chance to have a decent run in the team to really develop due to a chronic run of injuries.