Samba Diakité (born 24 January 1989) is a former 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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in France, between 2012 and 2013 he made nine appearances for the Mali national team.

Club career

Early career

Diakité played for Le Bourget and Torcy, before joining Nancy in 2007.

Nancy

On 27 December 2009, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a two-year deal with Nancy. He made his professional debut on 27 January 2010 in a

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

match against

Plabennec Plabennec (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. History The area around Plabennec has been occupied since Neolithic times ...

Queens Park Rangers (loan)

On 29 January 2012, he agreed a deal to join

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 ...

team Queens Park Rangers on loan for the remainder of the season with a view to a permanent switch in the summer of 2012. He made his debut on 25 February 2012 in a 1–0 defeat, at home against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, where he was sent-off after just 33 minutes for a second bookable offence. Diakité scored his first goal, a winning goal, for Queens Park Rangers in a 2–1 victory over London rivals

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 31 March 2012.

Queens Park Rangers

On 27 June 2012, it was announced by Queens Park Rangers that they had completed the permanent signing of Diakité on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee believed to be £3.5 million. Up until his loan move to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, he made 14 appearances for the ''R's'' that season.

Watford (loan)

On 31 January 2014, Diakité joined Watford on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season. Diakité made his Watford debut as an 88th-minute substitute for Cristian Battocchio in the 2-0 win over

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

on 2 February 2014. However, on his full debut against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

on 15 February 2014, Diakité was shown a straight red card early in the second half for a two-footed lunge on

Dean Whitehead Dean Whitehead (born 12 January 1982) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is an assistant head coach at club Blackburn Rovers. A midfielder who occasionally played as a right-back, he made 622 league and cup a ...

Ittihad (loan)

On 19 July 2014, Diakité joined

Ittihad The Ittihad Party () was an Islamist party in the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic that existed from 1917 to 1920. It was formed after the groups Ganja Ittihad-i Islam and Rusyada Muslumanliq merged in September 1917 in opposition to the secular ...

on a season long loan. He was recalled by Queens Park Rangers at the end of the January transfer window, having made seven appearances and scoring one goal during his time at the Saudi Arabian club.

Al Tadhamon

In 2020, Diakité joined Kuwaiti club

Al Tadhamon SC Al Tadhamon SC (also Al Tadamon) is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Al Farwaniya. It was founded in 1965. Honours *Kuwaiti Division One **Champions (4): 1966–67, 1973–74, 1985–86, 2020–21 See also * List of football clu ...

International career

On 24 January 2012, he made his senior international debut for

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 ...

at the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

, in the 1–0 victory against

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

. In total, he has made nineteen appearances for his country, scoring four goals. His form for his country in the tournament helped them reach the semi-finals, and helped earn him a move to Queens Park Rangers.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Mali *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

bronze:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diakite, Samba 1989 births Living people Footballers from Montfermeil French men's footballers French sportspeople of Malian descent Malian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Mali men's international footballers 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players AS Nancy Lorraine players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Watford F.C. players Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) players Red Star FC players Al-Tadamon SC (Kuwait) players Premier League players English Football League players Saudi Pro League players Kuwait Premier League players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Malian expatriate men's footballers Malian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Malian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Malian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Malian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Expatriate men's footballers in Kuwait 21st-century French sportsmen