Mouctar Diakhaby

Mouctar Diakhaby

Diakhaby playing for Guinea at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Personal information
Full name	Mouctar Diakhaby [1]
Date of birth	(1996-12-19) 19 December 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth	Vendôme, France
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) [2]
Position(s)	Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Valencia
Number	4
Youth career
2004–2009	USSA Vertou
2009–2010	Nantes
2010–2013	USSA Vertou
2013–2016	Lyon
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2018	Lyon B	55	(11)
2016–2018	Lyon	34	(2)
2018–	Valencia	140	(7)
International career‡
2014–2015	France U19	11	(1)
2015–2016	France U20	6	(0)
2017–2018	France U21	9	(1)
2022–	Guinea	14	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 December 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 February 2024

Mouctar Diakhaby (born 19 December 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for La Liga club Valencia. Born in France, he plays for the Guinea national team.

Early life

Diakhaby was born in Vendôme, France, to Guinean parents, who were from Touba, Boké. ^[3]

Club career

Lyon

Diakhaby made his first team debut for Lyon on 10 September 2016 in a Ligue 1 match against Bordeaux, playing the whole match in a 3–1 home loss. ^[4] On 30 November 2016, he scored his first competitive goal for the Lyon first team in a 6–0 Ligue 1 away rout of Nantes. ^[5] On 23 February 2017, Diakhaby scored a goal (in the 89th minute) in the 2016–17 Europa League round of 32 second-leg 7–1 home win over AZ Alkmaar to register his first career UEFA Europa League or UEFA Champions League goal. ^[6] He also scored a goal in each of two legs of the 2016–17 Europa League round of 16 tie against Roma.

Valencia

Diakhaby with Valencia in 2021

On 28 June 2018, Diakhaby signed a five-year deal with Spanish side Valencia. ^[7] On 3 March 2024, he sustained a serious injury, diagnosed as a dislocated knee, following a collision with Aurélien Tchouaméni during a match against Real Madrid. ^[8]

International career

Diakhaby was born in France, but is Guinean by descent. ^[9] He is a former youth international for France. In 2022 however he decided to represent the home country of his parents, Guinea, and debuted for them against Egypt.

On 23 December 2023, he was selected from the list of 25 Guinean players selected by Kaba Diawara to compete in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 12 December 2023 ^{[10] [11]}

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lyon	2016–17	Ligue 1	22	1	1	1	0	0	11 [lower-alpha 3]	3	0	0	34	5
	2017–18		12	1	3	0	1	0	5 [lower-alpha 4]	1	—		21	2
	Total		34	2	4	1	1	0	16	4	0	0	55	7
Valencia	2018–19	La Liga	22	2	7	0	—		9 [lower-alpha 5]	1	—		38	3
	2019–20		21	0	3	0	—		5 [lower-alpha 6]	0	0	0	29	0
	2020–21		26	1	1	0	—		—		—		27	1
	2021–22		29	0	8	0	—		—		—		37	0
	2022–23		29	3	1	0	—		—		0	0	30	3
	2023–24		12	1	1	0	—		—		—		13	1
	Total		140	7	21	0	—		14	1	0	0	175	8
Career total			174	9	25	1	1	0	30	5	0	0	230	15

1. Includes Coupe de France, Copa del Rey
2. Includes Coupe de la Ligue
3. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
5. Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 2 February 2024 ^[12]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Guinea	2022	4	1
	2023	5	0
	2024	5	0
Total		14	1

Scores and results list Guinea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Diakhaby goal. ^[12]

List of international goals scored by Mouctar Diakhaby

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	27 September 2022	Stade de la Licorne, Amiens, France	Ivory Coast	1–3	1–3	Friendly

Honours

Valencia

• Copa del Rey: 2018–19 ^[13]

References

1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 18 de mayo de 2019, en Valladolid" [Minutes of the Match held on 18 May 2019, in Valladolid] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
2. "Mouctar Diakhaby". LaLiga Santander. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
3. "Player profile — Mouctar Diakhaby". thesportsdb.com. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
4. "Lyon vs. Bordeaux - 10 September 2016 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
5. "Nantes vs. Olympique Lyonnais - 30 November 2016 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
6. "Lyon rejoint les 8es de finale de Ligue Europa après un festival". L'Équipe. 23 February 2017.
7. "Valence officialise le recrutement de Mouctar Diakhaby (Lyon)". L'Équipe. 28 June 2017.
8. "Valencia issue Mouctar Diakhaby update after horrific injury against Real Madrid - which left players averting their eyes in horror". Goal.com. 3 March 2024.
9. "Ligue 1-OL : Mouctar Diakhaby veut améliorer son jeu de tête" [Ligue 1-OL : Mouctar Diakhaby wants to improve his head game]. africatopsports.com (in French). Africa Top Sports. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
10. "M. Diakhaby". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
11. "Mouctar Diakhaby". SofaScore. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
12. "Mouctar Diakhaby". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
13. "Barcelona 1–2 Valencia". BBC Sport. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.

External links

• Profile at the Valencia CF website
• Mouctar Diakhaby at the French Football Federation (in French)
• Mouctar Diakhaby at the French Football Federation (archived) (in French)