Marseille president Vincent Labrune admits that he brought Abou Diaby to the club not just to play, but also to pass on his experience of having been at one of the game's elite clubs in Arsenal.

Diaby parted ways with Arsenal earlier this summer as repeated injury problems took their toll on the French midfielder's career with the Gunners.




He could have landed at West Brom to continue his Premier League adventure, but chose to head home and ink a deal with Marseille.

Diaby has yet to play for Marseille, but Labrune feels along with Lassana Diarra and coach Michel, he is already having an input into the club as he is passing his knowledge on to the side's youngsters.
 

 

The president told the Journal du Dimanche: "He has great wisdom and is already one of our guides.

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"We chose Abu, just like Lassana and Michel, for their experience at big foreign clubs, because there is a real problem with the mentality of young French players."

Diaby meanwhile is continuing with his efforts to become match fit and put himself at Michel's disposal to make an impact on the pitch.

And a club spokesman revealed that Diaby is almost always at Marseille's training base as he works on his comeback.

"He is almost in permanent residence", the spokesman said.

Diaby made 180 appearances for Arsenal over the course of his time at the Emirates Stadium.