Keita Baldé Diao

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Baldé and the second or maternal family name is Diao.
Keita
Personal information
Full name Keita Baldé Diao
Date of birth (1995-03-08) 8 March 1995
Place of birth Arbúcies, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 Lazio
Number 14
Youth career
2000–2004 Damm
2004–2011 Barcelona
2010–2011 → Cornellà (loan)
2011–2013 Lazio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2013– Lazio 77 (10)
National team‡
2015– Catalonia 1 (0)
2016– Senegal 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 April 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 March 2016

Keita Baldé Diao (born 8 March 1995), known simply as Keita, is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Italian club Lazio.

Club career

Early career

Born in Arbúcies, Girona, Catalonia, to Senegalese parents, Keita came up through the FC Barcelona's youth academy. In 2010, Keita travelled with his Barcelona youth team to Qatar for a tournament, where he played a practical joke by placing an ice-cube in a team-mate's bed.[1]

As a punishment, Barcelona sent the 15-year-old Keita on loan to satellite club UE Cornellà, despite Keita's reputation as a future prospect for the first team. The loan meant Cornellà held the rights to a fraction of Keita's playing rights. After a season in which he scored 47 goals for Cornellà's youth side, Keita turned down the chance to return to Barcelona, attracting the interest of Real Madrid and Manchester United.[2]

Lazio

In the summer of 2011, he was signed by Italian Serie A club Lazio for a fee of €300,000, of which 10% went to Cornellà.[3] Keita was unable to play official matches for Lazio's youth sides for a year, as he had to wait to be granted Spanish citizenship and the EU passport required for the Italian club to register him. However, he impressed while playing in the Torneo Karol Wojtyla youth competition, where he scored six goals in just four matches.[4]

Keita then spent the 2012–13 season playing with Lazio's Primavera youth side and training with the first team. He was selected by coach Vladimir Petković to sit on the bench for some matches in the latter part of the season but did not make his senior debut.

Promoted to the first team for the following season, Keita made his league debut in a 3–0 home win against Chievo at the Stadio Olimpico on 15 September 2013, coming on as a late substitute for Luis Pedro Cavanda. Five days later, Keita made his debut in the Europa League, starting in a 1–0 home victory against Legia Warsaw. He provided the assist for the only goal of the game, scored by Hernanes. On 10 November 2013, he scored his first senior goal in a 1–1 draw against Parma.[5]

On 18 August 2015 Keita came off the bench to score the only goal of the game as Lazio beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at the Stadio Olimpico.[6]

National team

Keita is born in Spain to parents of Senegalese descent. Although he could be eligible to play for Spain, Keita had chosen to play for his parents' country, Senegal, being called-up by their manager, Aliou Cissé, for the match against Niger, valid for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group K.[7] He made his debut for Senegal in a 2-0 win over Niger as a late sub.[8]

Honours

Club

Lazio[9]

References

  1. ↑ Finalmente Keita La Lazio scopre il baby fenomeno (Gazzetta dello Sport – ed. romana), Marco Calabresi
  2. ↑ Finalmente Keita La Lazio scopre il baby fenomeno (Gazzetta dello Sport – ed. romana), Marco Calabresi
  3. ↑ Esclusiva - Keita, la nuova promessa della Lazio. L?agente: ?C?era l?offerta del Real Madrid, ma??
  4. ↑ Esclusiva - Keita, la nuova promessa della Lazio. L?agente: ?C?era l?offerta del Real Madrid, ma??
  5. ↑ Parma-Lazio 1-1, non basta Keita show e gol: pareggia Lucarelli
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Sénégal-Niger : Aliou Cissé publie une liste de 26 joueurs.". Dakar Actu. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  8. ↑ http://www.cafonline.com/en-us/competitions/qcan2017/MatchDetails?MatchId=tn438B4Mj9ezDOY74Vd60Jc%2bSqJCIbDRj7WQtItsvz5uGyIjFLNnsKE4Y0HSFJkH
  9. ↑ Updated 20 August 2015 profile at Soccerway

External links

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