Senegal World Cup hero who struggled to establish himself in England. Beginning to find his feet at Stoke after a free transfer
Defensive midfielder Diao rose to prominence during the 2002 World Cup when he scored one of the goals of the tournament for Senegal against Denmark. That prompted Gerard Houllier to splash out £5 million to sign him for Liverpool from French side Sedan, but he struggled to make any kind of impact.
Similar unsuccessful spells with Birmingham City and Portsmouth followed until, finally, he resurrected his reputation during a successful loan with the Potters in the 2006/07.
Having recovered from a bad knee injury, he returned to the Britannia Stadium as a free agent in December 2007 to pen a permanent deal.