Pape Maly Diamanka (born 10 January 1990) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder. He spent most of his career in Spain after arriving in the country in 2010, starting out at Rayo Vallecano.

Club career

Born in Dakar, Diamanka began his career with local US Gorée. In February 2010 he joined Spanish club Rayo Vallecano, being assigned to the reserves in the Tercera División and being a regular in his first full season, starting 23 games and completing 20 as the Madrid outskirts team retained their

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, 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 Foot ...

status. On 13 June 2011, Diamanka renewed his contract with a €6 million

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...

, also being promoted to the main squad for the 2011–12 campaign. He spent several months on the sidelines due to bureaucratic problems. Diamanka made his competitive debut on 8 January 2012, playing 32 minutes as a substitute in the 2–1 La Liga home win against Sevilla FC. On 23 August, he was loaned to Norway's Vålerenga Fotball for one season with the option for a permanent deal. After being released by Rayo, Diamanka moved to

Salamanca AC Salamanca Athletic Club, S.A.D. was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded on 28 June 2013, after UD Salamanca's dissolution, but has never pla ...

but, after the club failed to register, he joined Sestao River Club on 26 August 2013. On 18 July of the following year he signed for

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

, newly promoted to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. Diamanka scored his first professional goal on 21 September 2014, his team's first in a 2–2 home draw against Racing de Santander. On 29 June 2015, he severed his ties and agreed to a three-year deal at Real Zaragoza also in the second tier. On 22 July 2016, after 15 starts and 1,334 minutes of action, Diamanka terminated his contract and signed a two-year deal with UD Almería of the same league the same day. On 10 August 2017, he moved to fellow second-division

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

as a free agent. He scored a career-best nine goals in 2018–19. On 5 July 2019, Diamanka signed a three-year contract with

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

, recently relegated to division two. On 29 September of the following year, he was loaned to Albacete Balompié in the same tier; in August 2021, he terminated his link to the former. Diamanka joined

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Las Gaunas'', ...

of the newly-formed Primera División RFEF in January 2022.

International career

Diamanka represented Senegal at various youth levels. In August 2011, he was called up by the senior team for a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with Morocco in Dakar, but eventually did not make his debut.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diamanka, Pape Maly 1990 births Living people Footballers from Dakar Senegalese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Rayo Vallecano B players Rayo Vallecano players Sestao River Club footballers CD Leganés players Real Zaragoza players UD Almería players CD Numancia players Girona FC players Albacete Balompié players UD Logroñés players Lleida Esportiu footballers Eliteserien players Vålerenga Fotball players Senegal men's A' international footballers 2009 African Nations Championship players Senegalese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Norway