Mouctar Diakhaby

Mouctar Diakhaby 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.

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. 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.
On 23 February 2017, Diakhaby scored a goal 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. He also scored a goal in each of two legs of the 2016–17 Europa League round of 16 tie against Roma.

On 28 June 2018, Diakhaby signed a five-year deal with Spanish side Valencia. 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.

Diakhaby was born in France, but is Guinean by descent. 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.

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

Valencia