Lassana Diarra is a French professional footballer (also holds the citizenship of the state of Mali), playing as a midfielder in the club from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) Al Jazeera. His dominant role on the field is a defensive midfielder, however, the player is also able to act as a right midfielder, which he did while playing for the French national team.
During his career, Lassana Diarra has performed at such renowned European clubs as Chelsea, Arsenal, Portsmouth and Real Madrid. The Frenchman also played in the Russian championship - he played for Makhachkala “Anji” and Moscow “Lokomotiv”.
Soccer player biography
Lassana Diarra was born on March 10, 1985 in Paris (France). He began his career in the youth club "Paris" (the main team plays in the third division of France) in 1999. Until 2004, he also played with French youth clubs such as Nantes, Le Mans and Red Star.
The beginning of a career in Le Havre
His professional career began at the Le Havre Club in 2004. Here he received a T-shirt with 21st number and quickly gained authority among teammates and fans.
In the 2004/05 season, he played 29 matches for “heavenly and dark blue”, in which he made countless effective actions. Thanks to his phenomenal defensive capabilities in midfield, the Frenchman has become an object of interest for many high-rated European clubs. One of these was the English Chelsea, here it was compared with Claude Makelele, who also played in the position of the opornik. London Chelsea scouts gave him the nickname "New Makelele."
Careers at Chelsea
In the 2005/06 season, he joined the London club for 4.5 million euros. Chelsea scouts found Lassana Diarra to be ideal for replacing Claude Makelele, an age-old player in his squad. As part of the “senior citizens” he made his debut in the Champions League match against Real Betis (4-0 victory). Despite the fact that at first in Chelsea Diarra did not get enough gaming experience, at the end of the 2005/06 season he was recognized as the best young footballer of the Premier League. It is noteworthy that in the framework of the FA Cup Diarra made his debut in the match against Huddersfield Town, in which he replaced the same Claude Makelele.
It is worth noting that playing matches for the “blue” (and there were only 13 in two seasons), Lassana Diarra demonstrated his best football qualities, thanks to which he later became the star of European football.
Nevertheless, despite a short period of stay in a London club, Diarra won three trophies: the Football League Cup, the FA Cup and a victory in the Premier League.
Season at Arsenal
August 31, 2007, on the last transfer day, Lassana Diarra, whose statistics was one of the best at Chelsea, signed an agreement with London's Arsenal. The deal amounted to three million euros. As part of the Gunners, he received a T-shirt with game number 8, under which winger Frederick Lunberg had previously performed. In an interview, Diarra said that one of the main reasons for joining Arsenal is the coach Arsène Wenger, whom the player considers one of the best in Europe. He made his debut for the club as part of the Champions League against Sevilla. In total, he won 7 matches for the “Gunners” and, after 5 months, transferred to Portsmouth (which became the owner of the FA Cup 2008) for 7 million euros. The fact is that the Frenchman considered that he was given too little game practice, which is not enough to be called up to the national team to participate in the European Championship 2008.
Career at Real Madrid
In January 2009, French midfielder Lassan Diarra became a “creamy” player for 20 million euros. On a T-shirt with 8th number, he bore the name Lass.
As part of the "galacticos" played until 2012. For three seasons, the Spanish club won the following trophies: Primera, the Super Bowl and the Spanish Cup. In total, he spent 87 matches and scored one goal.
