Modibo Diakité (born 2 March 1987) is a French 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Italian

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

club LUISS Roma.

Club career

Pescara

Born in

Bourg-la-Reine Bourg-la-Reine () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. History In 1792, during the French Revolution, Bourg-la-Reine (meaning "Town of the Queen") w ...

, Diakité moved to Italy at early age, and joined Sampdoria's youth setup. In 2004, he moved to

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, being initially assigned to the ''Primavera'' team. Diakité made his first-team debut on 28 May 2006, in a 0–0 away draw against Mantova for the

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

championship. Despite only playing one match for the first team, the 19-year-old Pescara youth product was recognized by giants

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, who signed him at the end of the 2005–06 season in co-ownership deal for €250,000.

Lazio

Although spending the vast majority of his first campaign appearing with the youth squad, Diakité made his first-team – and

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

– debut on 1 April 2007, replacing Guglielmo Stendardo in the dying minutes of a 4–2 away win against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

. His first start came late in the month, in a 0–1 home loss against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, also having a goal disallowed. In June 2007 Lazio signed Diakité outright for another €250,000, and he was handed a starting spot for the first match of the campaign, against

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. However, he eventually broke his tibia in the 2–2 home draw, missing the remainder of the season. On 27 November 2008, Diakité extended his link with the ''Biancazzurri'' until 2013. He played his first match after returning from injury on 3 December, starting in a 2–1 away win against

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

for the campaign's

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

. Diakité scored his first professional goal on 14 December 2008, netting his side's second through a header in a 3–3 away draw against Udinese. He subsequently became a regular starter, appearing in 25 matches and scoring once during the 2011–12 season.

Sunderland

On 10 June 2013,

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

announced the arrival of Diakité on a free transfer. A starter under

Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a Forward (association football), forward. He primari ...

, he was deemed surplus to requirements by new manager

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer who is the manager of K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with s ...

, and was subsequently loaned to Fiorentina in January. Diakité was released from Sunderland by mutual consent on 1 September 2014.

Fiorentina (loan)

On 31 January 2014, Diakité joined

on loan for the rest of the season. He appeared in nine matches (all starts) for the ''Viola'' before returning to Sunderland in June.

Deportivo La Coruña

On 3 September 2014, Diakité signed for

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 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 ...

. He made his debut in the competition on 20 September, starting in a 2–8 home loss against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Frosinone

On 10 July 2015 Diakité signed with

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

.http://www.frosinonecalcio.com/diakite-e-un-nuovo-giocatore-del-frosinone/ Diakitè è un nuovo giocatore del Frosinone He scored his first goal with the club on 8 November 2015 in the 38th minute of a 2–2 home draw against

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Sampdoria

On 1 February 2016 Diakité signed with Sampdoria.

Later years

In January 2017 Diakité signed with

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria and currently compete in the Serie C. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A ...

. In October 2017,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Diakité joined

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. After being released due to Bari's exclusion from Italian football, Diakité returned to Ternana, playing for them until June 2022. In October 2022, Diakité agreed to return to Rome, signing for

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

amateurs Roma City. After suffering relegation with Roma City, Diakité left to join

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

amateurs LUISS Roma, coached by Guglielmo Stendardo, a former teammate of his at Lazio.

Style of play

A tactically versatile right-footed defender, Diakité is usually deployed as a centreback in a 3 or 4-man defence, although he is also capable of playing as a rightback. A quick, large, hard-working, and physically strong player, although not particularly skilled technically, he is known in particular for his ball-winning abilities and his strength in the air.

Personal life

Born in Bourg-La-Reine, France, Diakité also owns a

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

an passport, as both of his parents are originally from Mali.

Honours

;Lazio *

: 2008–09, 2012–13, Runners-up 2013–14 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diakite, Modibo 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Bourg-la-Reine Men's association football defenders French men's footballers French sportspeople of Malian descent Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Premier League players La Liga players Delfino Pescara 1936 players SS Lazio players Sunderland A.F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players Deportivo de La Coruña players Cagliari Calcio players Frosinone Calcio players UC Sampdoria players Ternana Calcio players SSC Bari players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Footballers from Hauts-de-Seine 21st-century French sportsmen