‘People think I’m crazy’ – Sheffield Wednesday defender reveals his focus away from the pitch

The 26-year-old powerhouse, who speaks eight languages and has become a very popular figure in the Owls camp, joined Wednesday last summer, and has received plenty of praise for the way in which he ended his debut campaign.

Like so many others Diaby endured a difficult start at Hillsborough, but he finished the season with 34 Championship appearances to his name and played an important role in helping the Owls stay up in their incredibly impressive final run-in.

His physical attributes are obvious, his size and power making him a tough opponent, and despite him insisting that he doesn’t do any work with weights, it should not be a shock that he does put in the graft in the gym. Including the one at his house.

“People must think I’m crazy,” he told The Star with a smile recently. “But when I’m not on the football pitch I’m usually in the gym in my garage. I spend a lot of time on my body, because I’m always thinking about being ready. We have enough time with the holidays, we have days off with friends and stuff, but when we have games you need to be ready always.

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“You never know what’s going to happen. For example against Swansea somebody went out in the warm-up, you have to be ready. Against Blackburn I was on the bench but somebody went out, you have to be ready. I always have this on my mind.”

Diaby is one of only a few players who remain contracted at S6 for next season, so Championship safety will have meant a lot to him. He’s also incredibly committed to his craft, so when he returns for preseason there’s no doubt he’ll be in excellent condition still.

He went on to say, “When I’m home I’m on my own, so I’ll go to the gym, I like to rest. I’m chilled, I’m more chilled than Pol (Valentin), he’s a crazy guy! I love him.

“Sometimes when my family comes I’ll go around, because they can’t just come for the football so you go around with him, but when I’m alone at home after training I’ll go home and rest, then go to the gym and do stuff with stretching and mobility. That’s my life, I love to live like that - I don’t see it as something that I have to do, it’s part of me.”

Diaby missed out on just eight league matchday squads over the course of the season, and only a handful of players managed to feature in more games than he did.