Mohamed Diamé (born 14 June 1987), also known as Momo Diamé, is a 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

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 ...

. Though born in France, Diamé represented

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

at international level and made 31 appearances before retiring from national duty in 2017.

Club career

Early career

Diamé was born in the Paris suburb of

Créteil Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...

and he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy between 2000 and 2003. Diamé began his professional career in 2003 with

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

, but left four years later after facing health problems. After a full recovery, he signed for lowly Spanish side Linares on 30 July 2007, and moved to

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 ...

the following year, helping the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

-based team to a mid-table position in the

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 ...

, after being promoted in the 2007–08 season. During his time with Rayo, it was reported that

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 ...

clubs

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 ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

were interested in signing the midfielder, as well as

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

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 ...

Wigan Athletic

On 22 August 2009, Diamé joined

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

, signing a three-year contract. The transfer had earlier been temporarily put on hold, after alleged heart problems were found. Diamé made his debut the same day as his transfer, in a 5–0 defeat to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He scored his first goal for Wigan against

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 ...

on 6 February 2010. At the end of the 2011–12 season, he left Wigan after declining their offer to extend his contract.

West Ham United

On 20 June 2012, Diamé joined

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, signing a three-year contract. Diamé made his debut for West Ham on 18 August 2012 in a 1–0 win against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He scored his first goal for West Ham United in the 3–1 defeat to

on 6 October 2012. His second goal for the club was scored in the 3–1 victory over Chelsea on 1 December 2012. On 9 December 2012, Diamé was injured in a match against Liverpool; it was initially thought he could be out for up to three months. In January 2013, after a number of clubs were reported to be interested in signing him, Diamé stated that he wished to stay with West Ham. Diamé did not leave the club in the transfer window, and manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

stated that it was an important decision.

Hull City

On 1 September 2014, Diamé joined

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, signing a three-year contract. Two weeks later, he made his debut at the

KC Stadium The MKM Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kingston upon Hull, England. It has a current capacity of 25,586. The stadium is home to both association football club Hull City A.F.C. of the EFL Championship and rugby league club Hull F.C. of ...

, scoring against his former club West Ham in a 2–2 draw. On 28 May 2016, Diamé scored in the Championship play-off final in a 1–0 win against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, giving Hull an immediate return to the

after their relegation in the 2014–15 season.

Newcastle United

On 3 August 2016, Diamé joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, signing a three-year contract. Diamé scored his first goals for Newcastle when he scored twice in an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

win against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

on 25 October 2016. In October 2017, he had a training ground fight with teammate Jamaal Lascelles. The two players later apologised and offered to take the entire first team squad and staff out for lunch. He was released by Newcastle upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Al Ahli

On 11 July 2019, Diamé joined Qatari side Al-Ahli on a two-year contract.

Fuenlabrada

On 8 April 2022, Diamé signed a contract with Spanish second level side

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

until the end of the season. In January 2023, Diamé had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Al Sailiya

On 17 January 2023, Diamé joined Qatari side Al-Sailiya on a half-year contract.

International career

On 22 March 2011, Diamé was called up to play for

, for whom he qualifies as his father was born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. Diamé made his international debut later that month. In July 2012, Diamé was announced as one of three over-age players in Senegal's squad for the 2012 Olympics. He scored his first international goal for Senegal on 26 March 2016 in a 2–0 win against Niger in a

2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football champions ...

match. He retired from international football in March 2017.

Personal life

Diamé is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Diamé goal.''

Honours

Hull City *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Newcastle United *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

: 2016–17

References

External links

Mohamed Diamé profile
at the official

Hull City A.F.C. Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diame, Mohamed 1987 births Living people French Muslims French sportspeople of Senegalese descent Footballers from Créteil Senegalese men's footballers 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Senegal men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Senegal Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players RC Lens players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Premier League players English Football League players Qatar Stars League players Qatari Second Division players INF Clairefontaine players CD Linares players Rayo Vallecano players Wigan Athletic F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players CF Fuenlabrada footballers Al-Sailiya SC players French expatriate men's footballers Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Qatar 21st-century French sportsmen