OFI Crete Diarra started his professional career at Greek club
OFI at the age of 17, being signed after recommendation of his elder brother
Harouna, who had joined the club a year earlier. After a single season at Greece and being watched by clubs such as
Barcelona and
Milan, he decided to join Dutch club
Vitesse.
Vitesse Diarra made his debut for Vitesse on 13 August 1999. During his tenure at the club, his playing style was compared to
Ruud Gullit and attracted interest from
Juventus, then coached by
Carlo Ancelotti. During the summer of 2002, after receiving offers from many European clubs, Vitesse sold Diarra to
Lyon by €4 million, although the player favoured a move to
Ajax to rejoin his old manager
Ronald Koeman.
Lyon At Lyon, Diarra was a starter in each of his four seasons, playing alongside
Michael Essien and
Juninho Pernambucano in the midfield and helping his side to win the
Ligue 1 in each of those seasons.
Real Madrid After
Real Madrid head coach
Fabio Capello asked club president
Ramón Calderón to sign "three players", "Diarra, Diarra and Diarra", Real Madrid joined
Manchester United in the race to sign the midfielder. Lyon said that Diarra could not leave and put a €40 million price tag on him. However, on 18 August 2006, Real Madrid agreed a fee of €26 million and four days later, Diarra was unveiled at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium by Calderón and was assigned the number 6 shirt. During the
2006–07 season, Diarra was a staple in Capello's two-defensive midfielder system. He appeared in 33 out of 38
La Liga matches, scoring on three occasions. On 18 June 2007, with Real Madrid needing to win against
Mallorca to win the
Liga for the first time since
2003, Diarra scored an 81st-minute header to give Madrid a 2–1 lead. In the 84th minute,
José Antonio Reyes scored a third goal to ensure Real Madrid were champions. Diarra played a pivotal role in the
2007–08 title defence under new head coach
Bernd Schuster, and he established himself as the first-choice
defensive midfielder, causing teammate
Fernando Gago to play higher upfield. Real Madrid comfortably won the
Liga, finishing eight points clear of second-placed
Villarreal. Diarra had now been a league champion for six consecutive seasons, after winning Ligue 1 with Lyon between
2002–03 and
2005–06, and La Liga with Real Madrid in 2006–07 and 2007–08. In October 2008, while playing an international fixture for
Mali against
Chad, Diarra was stretchered off the field after receiving a blow to his knee. He was rested for a month and made his next appearance in late November, but was forced to undergo surgery after aggravating his knee injury, which ruled him out for the remainder of the
2008–09 season. In his absence, Real Madrid signed
Lassana Diarra from
Portsmouth as a replacement defensive midfielder, who was issued Diarra's number 6 shirt. After recovering from injury, Diarra only started 8 further matches in two seasons for Real Madrid. In January 2011, it was reported that Diarra would be leaving Real Madrid, and was linked to several clubs including
Málaga.
Monaco Diarra returned to
French football after signing with
Monaco on 27 January 2011. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw against
Marseille. Diarra left Monaco after the club was relegated to
Ligue 2 at the end of the
2010–11 season. After his departure, he remained without a club for the first half of the 2011–12 season and was linked with moves to the Middle East and English
Championship club
Doncaster Rovers.
Fulham Diarra signed for
Premier League side
Fulham on 26 February 2012. He scored his first goal for Fulham against Bolton Wanderers on 7 April 2012. Diarra was one of 12 players released by Fulham at the end of the 2012–13 season. Despite his release, Martin Jol remained positive on Diarra and vowed to help him over the summer to continue his rehabilitation. Diarra re-signed for Fulham on 26 March 2014 on a contract that expired at the end of the
2013–14 season in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to help the club survive relegation.
Later career Diarra trained with Championship side
Brentford throughout the
2016–17 season and made an appearance for the club's
B team on 20 September 2016. ==Style of play==