Modibo Diakité played for Lazio from 2006 to 2013.
Modibo Diakité was born in Bourg-la-Reine, France, on March 2, 1987. He is French of Malian parents.
He arrived in Italy at a young age brought by Sampdoria's youth sector. He then played for Pescara "Primavera" (U19's) and made his debut for the "Abruzzesi" on May 13, 2006 in a Serie B game against Catania. It would be his only match for the "Delfini" (The Dolphins).
In the summer of 2006, he was signed by Lazio for 300,000 Euros. He at first joined the Primavera team but soon went up to the first team. He made his debut under Delio Rossi and played 3 league games.
In 2007-08 he was also a reserve and played 1 game in Serie A. It was in 2008-09 that he started getting some playing time. He played 9 league games with 1 goal (Udinese) and 2 in Coppa Italia (which Lazio won).
On August 8, 2009, in Beijing, he played the whole game in Lazio's 2-1 Supercoppa triumph over Inter. He then played 19 league games, 2 in Coppa Italia and 6 in the Europa League, first under Davide Ballardini and then Edy Reja. The January signings of André Dias and Giuseppe Biava limited his games in the second part of the season.
The following year, again with Reja as manager, he made 8 league appearances and 2 in Coppa Italia.
The 2011-12 season was his best with the Biancocelesti. He played 25 league games with 1 goal (winner against Cagliari), 2 in Coppa Italia and 9 in the Europa League. Lazio came 4th in Serie A and won both derbies.
In 2012 Lazio changed manager and replaced Reja with Vladimir Petkovic. The Bosnian relied mainly on André Dias, Giuseppe Biava and then Lorik Cana and new arrival Michael Ciani so Diakité fell behind in the pecking order and was put out of the squad. He would play only 1 game in Coppa Italia but as they say every little bit helps and Lazio went on to lift the cup beating Roma 1-0 with a Lulic goal on the unforgettable 26th of May.
In the summer of 2013 he moved to the Premier League in England and signed for Sunderland. His adventure with the Black Cats only lasted until January. He played 7 league games and 1 cup game before heading back to Italy.
In the winter market session of 2014 he joined Fiorentina on loan. In Florence with "La Viola" he played 9 Serie A games and 2 in Coppa Italia. Under Vincenzo Montella the "Gigliati" had a good season arriving 4th and were losing finalists in the Coppa Italia.
He then spent 4 months in Spain with Deportivo La Coruña but only played 3 times and then 4 months with Cagliari in Serie A, where he played 9 games.
In the summer of 2015 he joined Frosinone, near Rome, in Serie A. He played 18 league games with 1 goal (Genoa) and 1 game in Coppa Italia but in February was on the move again and the "Ciocari" eventually got relegated.
Diakite however was already at Sampdoria where he played 8 league games in a second spell in Liguria.
In January 2017 he signed for Ternana in Serie B. He played 15 games with 1 goal but in October as a free agent he moved to Bari. The " Galletti" (The Cockerels) however were in deep trouble and were excluded from Italian football (they are now back in Serie B) so Diakité returned to Umbria and Ternana playing another 36 times with 2 goals for the "Rossoverdi".
In 2022 he came back to Rome and joined Roma City, a newly formed club, in Serie D.
Diakité is a physically strong player (personally I always thought he would have made a good rugby union player). At 1.93 he is a powerful centre-back but he can also play at right full-back. He is obviously good in the air and is known for his ball-winning abilities. He is not particularly technical and although he did improve it was not enough to establish himself as a regular at top level football.
At Lazio he had only one season where he played regularly and in the others he was usually a second choice. He was popular at Lazio, for his sheer size, name, cartoon like face and for his crazy solo attacks when he would suddenly surge forward taking on the entire opposition, "è partito Modibo" (Modibo's off) was often heard at the Olimpico. "Partire" in Italian means leave but also to lose it, as in go crazy… Modibo's excursions were a bit of both.
He won silverware at Lazio, two Italian Cups (2009, 2013) and an Italian Supercup (2009). He played 90 games for the Biancocelesti and scored 2 goals.
Lazio career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2006-07 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - |
2007-08 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
2008-09 | 11 (1) | 9 (1) | 2 | - | - |
2009-10 | 28 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
2010-11 | 10 | 8 | 2 | - | - |
2011-12 | 36 (1) | 25 (1) | 2 | 9 | - |
2012-13 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - |
Total | 90 (2) | 65 (2) | 9 | 15 | 1 |
Sources
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