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Salif Diao
Personal information
Full name	Salif Alassane Diao
Date of birth	February 10, 1977 (age 30)
Place of birth	Kedougou, Senegal
Nickname	The Sheriff, Big Salif
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Stoke City
Number	18
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-2000 1996-1997 2000-2002 2002-2007 2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-	AS Monaco → Epinal (loan) CS Sedan Ardennes Liverpool → Birmingham City (loan) → Portsmouth (loan) → Stoke City (loan) Stoke City	00 (0) 02 (0) 27 (0) 37 (1) 02 (0) 11 (0) 16 (0) 09 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Salif Alassane Diao (born February 10, 1977 in Kedougou, Senegal) is a Senegalese football player, playing as a defensive midfielder. He currently plays for Stoke City, and is a Senegal international.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Liverpool 1.2 Birmingham 1.3 Portsmouth 1.4 Stoke City 2 International career 3 Honours 4 Statistics 5 References 6 External links

Diao began his career in his native Senegal before moving to France at the age of seventeen. He played for AS Monaco and won the French League with them in the 1999-2000 season. He also won a runner-up medal in the 2002 African Nations Cup, where Senegal lost in extra time to Cameroon.

He was signed by former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier from French club CS Sedan Ardennes for £5 million (€7.5m) after the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, Liverpool scout Kevin Feeney recommended Diao (despite chief scout Dave Murray protesting otherwise)^{[citation needed]} to Houllier after his solid performances in the World Cup. While his natural position is that of defensive or central midfielder, Houllier often used him either as a centre back or as a right back.

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. Since the arrival of Rafael Benítez (and especially since the signing of fellow defensive midfielder Momo Sissoko), he has been deemed surplus to requirements at Liverpool. Ironically, while Sissoko has been 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 #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 reportedly failed a medical at the club, thus ending his chances of signing. On 10 October 2006 Diao joined Stoke City on loan. He has been a consistent player for Stoke, holding the team together, and has been considered by some fans to play like Claude Makelele, slowing down the tempo and speed of the game. It is thought that the revival of Stoke City this season was in a large part due to Salif's hardworking performances. On 25 January, 2007, his contract at Stoke was extended untill the end of the season and was permenantly transfered from Liverpool^[1].

Diao has appeared 39 times for Senegal, netting 4 goals in the process.

• 1997/98 French Super Cup

Club Performance

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Stoke City Loan	2006-07	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Portsmouth FC Loan	2005-06	9	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Liverpool FC	2005-06	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Birmingham City FC Loan	2004-05	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Liverpool FC	2004-05	8	0	0	0	3	1	3	0	0	0	14	1
	2003-04	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	7	0
	2002-03	26	1	2	0	4	0	8	1	0	0	40	2
CS Sedan Ardennes	2001-02	22	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	25	0
	2000-01	26	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	31	0
Monaco	1999-00	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	1998-99	14	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	17	0
	1997-98	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
Epinal Loan	1996-97	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Monaco	1996-97	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total		125	1	5	0	10	1	23	1	0	0	163	3

1. ^ Eaton, Paul (2007-01-25). Diao Signs for Stoke. Liverpool FC. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.

• Salif Diao career stats at Soccerbase
• Salif Diao Official Website at Icons.com

	Senegal squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Sylva | 2 Daf | 3 Sarr | 4 Malick Diop | 5 N'Dour | 6 Cissé | 7 H. Camara | 8 Traoré | 9 S. Camara | 10 Fadiga | 11 Diouf | 12 Faye | 13 Diatta | 14 Moussa N'Diaye | 15 Diao | 16 Diallo | 17 Coly | 18 Thiaw | 19 Bouba Diop | 20 S. N'Diaye | 21 Beye | 22 Cissokho | 23 Makhtar N'Diaye | Coach: Metsu

Stoke City F.C. - Current Squad
1 Simonsen | 2 Hoefkens | 3 Broomes | 4 Eustace | 5 Fortune | 6 Hill | 8 Parkin | 9 Sidibe | 10 Fuller | 14 Higginbotham | 15 Péricard | 16 Hendrie | 17 Russell | 18 Diao | 19 Matteo | 20 Griffin | 21 Martin | 22 Buxton | 23 Lawrence | 24 Delap | 25 Hoult | 26 A. Pulis | 27 Zakuani | 28 Wilkinson | 30 Paterson | 31 Dickinson | 32 Vass | 34 Rooney | 36 Hazley | 37 Thomas | Manager: T. Pulis