Salif Diao

Salif Alassane Diao (born 10 February 1977) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Diao moved from Senegal to France when he was seventeen and started his career at Monaco with whom he helped with the Trophée des Champions and Division 1.

He begin his professional career playing for Monaco in 1996 but did not feature for the club at all in the 1996–1997 season and was loaned out the Ligue 2 side SAS Épinal where he played 2 matches for the club.

He returned to Monaco for the 1997–98 season where he 12 times in his second season at the club.

he was also part of the AS Monaco side that won Division 1 in the 1999–2000 season.

He failed to hold down a regular place at Monaco and moved to Sedan in 2000.

In 2001, he signed for Sedan Ardennes.

He played 32 games in all competitions in his first season at Sedan Ardennes in the 2001–02 season including 3 matches in the UEFA Cup.

He made his first start of the on 28 July 2001 in their 1–1 draw away at Bastia.

He made 22 appearances for Sedan in his second season at the club with an extra 2 games in the UEFA Cup.

Diao then had an impressive 2002 World Cup with Senegal which attracted the attention of several Premier League sides.

It was Liverpool who won the race and signed Diao for £5 million in 2002.

His time at Liverpool was unsuccessful and he was sent out on loan to Birmingham City, Portsmouth and Stoke City.

He also won a runner-up medal in the 2002 African Cup of Nations, where Senegal lost in extra time to Cameroon.

His last game for Sedan came in their 1–1 draw with FC Lorient on 6 April 2002 before joining English club Liverpool.

He was signed by former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier from French club CS Sedan Ardennes for £5 million (€7.5m) just before the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

He helped Senegal reach the quarter-finals, most notably in scoring a memorable goal against Denmark in the first round, although he was subsequently red-carded.

At the club, he tended to be used out of position by Houllier, often played at centre back or full back and as a result never had the chance to demonstrate whether he was capable of playing a central midfield role for the club, although the evidence did suggest he was somewhat out of his depth.

His first Liverpool goal came against Spartak Moscow in the Champions League.

He scored a total of three goals, only one coming in the league, in a 1–0 win at Leeds United in October 2002.

He was left out of Liverpool's squad for the victorious 2003 Football League Cup Final despite playing often in the earlier rounds, including the semi-final first leg against Sheffield United.

Diao was played in his correct position by Rafa Benítez but several poor displays saw him displaced by Xabi Alonso notably after a 4–2 win at Fulham.

Liverpool were 2–0 down when Diao was substituted, he had been at fault for one of the goals Fulham scored whilst attempting a bizarre back heel.

It was during the 2004–05 season that Diao scored his last Liverpool goal against Millwall in the League Cup, and he played his last game for Liverpool at Norwich City in January 2005.

Despite not having featured for months Diao was present in Istanbul when Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005.

He appeared only once in the campaign, coming on as a substitute away at Olympiacos in the group stage.

In January 2005 Birmingham City took Diao, who had struggled to make Liverpool's first team, on loan for the rest of the season but he had his spell at Birmingham ended by injury almost immediately.

The arrival of Rafael Benítez and defensive midfielder Mohamed Sissoko, signalled the end of his Liverpool career.

Althougu Sissoko was branded the "new Vieira" by Benítez, Diao had received this same tag from Houllier upon his arrival at Liverpool.

Diao was not issued a squad number by Liverpool for the 2005–06 season, with his number 15 being given to new signing Peter Crouch.

He joined Portsmouth in August 2005 on a season long loan but spent much of the season out injured.

At the end of the season Pompey manager Harry Redknapp decided not to take up the option to sign him permanently because of his injury-proneness.

In July 2006 Diao was taken on trial by Premiership side Charlton Athletic.

He failed a medical at the club, thus ending his chances of signing.

On 10 October 2006, Diao joined Stoke City on loan.

He made his debut for Stoke four days later in a 4–0 win away at Leeds United.

He became a consistent player for Stoke, holding the team together, slowing down the tempo and speed of the game.

He joined the latter Stoke permanently on a free transfer in 2007 and helped the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2008.

Diao was born in Kédougou, Tambacounda Region.

He began his career in his native country before moving to France at the age of seventeen.