Mamadou Sylla Diallo (born 20 March 1994) is a Senegalese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for Spanish club

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

Career

Born in

Kédougou Kédougou ( Wolof: Keédugu) is a town in the Kédougou Region of south-eastern Senegal near the border with Mali and Guinea. It lies at an elevation of above sea level. Founded by the Malinké people, Kédougou means the "Land of Man". The t ...

, Sylla moved to Spain in 2004, aged ten, and joined

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

's youth setup in 2009. He subsequently represented

CE Mataró Club Esportiu Mataró is a Spanish football team based in Mataró, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1939, they currently play in the , holding home games at '' Municipal Carles Padrós'', which has a capacity of 4,500. The cl ...

and

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, and made his senior debuts with the latter's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in 2013, in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. On 27 March 2015 Sylla joined

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

strugglers

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

on loan until the end of the campaign, as a short-term replacement to injured Mamadou Koné. He played his first match as a professional on 5 April, starting in a 2–0 home loss against

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Badalona, Province of Barcelona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays ...

. Six days later Sylla scoring his first professional goal, netting a last-minute winner in a 3–2 away win against

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

. He returned to the ''Pericos'' in June, scoring three goals in 11 appearances but suffering team relegation. Sylla made his debut in the main category of Spanish football on 27 September 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute for Víctor Sánchez in a 3–0 away loss against

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. On 3 December, he scored his first goal for the team, coming off the bench to open a 1–1 draw at

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

in the first leg of the last 16 of that season's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. On 11 July 2016, Sylla was loaned to Belgian club

KAS Eupen K.A.S. Eupen (short for Königliche Allgemeine Sportvereinigung Eupen, English: ''Royal General Sports Association Eupen'', simply referred to as Eupen) is a Belgian professional association football club located in Eupen, Province of Liège, wh ...

for one year. He subsequently joined

KAA Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (; English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Gent or by their nickname ' (), is a Belgian professional sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football tea ...

permanently, but served loan stints at SV Zulte-Waregem and Sint-Truidense VV. On 5 January 2020, Sylla signed with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

side

FC Orenburg FC Orenburg () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Orenburg. Founded in 1976, it will return to the Russian First League in the 2025–26 season. History It played professionally as Gazovik ...

on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season. On 9 October, he returned to Spain after joining second division side

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract. On 20 August 2021, Sylla agreed to a three-year deal with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

. The following 31 January, he moved to fellow league team

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. Back to the ''Babazorros'' for the 2022–23 season, Sylla scored four times as the club returned to the top tier at first attempt. On 1 September 2023, he terminated his contract with the club, and signed a one-year deal with

just hours later.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * *
Espanyol official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylla, Mamadou 1994 births Living people People from Kédougou Senegalese men's footballers 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Belgian Pro League players Russian Premier League players RCD Espanyol footballers RCD Espanyol B footballers Racing de Santander players K.A.A. Gent players K.A.S. Eupen players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Sint-Truidense V.V. players FC Orenburg players Girona FC players Deportivo Alavés players Rayo Vallecano players Real Valladolid players Senegalese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Russia Senegalese emigrants to Spain 21st-century Spanish sportsmen