West Ham United is celebrating Black History Month 2025 with a new series, Discovering, in which we focus on our players’ backgrounds, heritage and the unique experiences that shaped their journeys to east London.
Lifelong Hammer and award-winning Goaldiggers podcaster Philippa Jennings is our host as we speak to El Hadji Malick Diouf in our first episode, shining a light on his story, culture, life and football career.
Listen to the full interview on Spotify by clicking HERE.
Malick, first off, congratulations on qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Senegal!
“It's my first time, but I hope I'm going to play in the summer maybe, but without injury, I hope.”
You are representing Senegal in the Premier League. How does that feel?
“I think it was a dream first because they wish me well. All the Senegalese people like to come play in the Premier League, so I think they are really happy to see me in this league. So I think something great for me.”
How has it been living and playing in east London?
“It's good because I meet a lot of Senegalese people. I know them before, so I think it's good. There are a lot of Senegalese people here.”
Tell us about your upbringing. Where did you grow up?
“In the capital, Dakar, but particularly in [the neighbourhood called] Médina. In my city, it’s a really big city with a lot of people. They are really kind, really funny so I like it. I like this. I had a really nice life and I think Médina is one of the best areas in Dakar.
“A lot of people, they live there and in the national team also, we have a lot of players like Idrissa Gana Gueye (of Everton), Pathé Ciss (of Rayo Vallecano) and Cherif Ndiaye (of Samsunspor) were all born in Médina.”
What role did your community play in you becoming a footballer?
“My family is not a family of football! When I was young, I started to play tennis. I’m a football player now and I think I’m better but when I was young, they put me to play tennis, but just for fun. After that, I like football so I stopped playing tennis and my Mum was not happy!
“I heard from Galaxy Football Academy of which Salif Diao is President, the ex-player from Liverpool. I went there to make a test and they took me and my Mum was not happy. She said ‘you’re not going to play football’ and I went to school.
“It was difficult. Every time I went to school I put my boots in my bag and I wasn’t going to school, but going directly to play football! She doesn’t know! When we had school holidays, they gave us a report and I had missed a lot!”
That’s not a good lesson for other kids, but it worked out and you moved to Norway when you were 18. What was that like?
“It was difficult. It was really, really difficult because I was staying alone every day. I spent three months in Spain, then I took the choice to fly to Norway. When I go there, the first minute was crazy because I didn’t see a lot of sun out there. I called my parents and I told them ‘no, I can't stay here’ because it was really difficult and complicated.
“But if you think about your family, you don't want to go back because you are here to help them. I learned just one sentence, ‘never give up’, and I love that so I think about that every time. I worked hard there and it was the only opportunity to do it. I made a good four days there and they gave me the contract. It was really quick.”
Your whole career has moved really quickly. That was only two years ago. You moved to Prague in January 2024 to join Slavia, so tell us about that and how different it was?
“I think it's not like a big difference. I think the Czech league now is better than Norway, so this was like a good gap for me. I played a lot of games there, so my plan was just to play one and a half years and I made it.
“It was not easy at the beginning with the way the team played. It was difficult for me. In my first European game, after 26 minutes, I took a red card and they pulled me out of the squad, so it was really crazy.
“I was out for four months. I didn’t touch a ball in the squad.”
What was it that made you fight back?
“Because I know my quality. The coach, when we finished the game about Milan [in which I was sent-off], he told me about next season. We had three months left [of the 2023/24 season], but he thinks about the next season. When I went home [to Senegal for the off-season], I had only 25 days, but I took a trainer and every time I was on the pitch, I trained hard and when I went back, it was easier for me. I started really good.”
You have a fantastic mentality. Did someone instil that in you?
“Yes, my parents and my agent, also. They can talk to me and tell me ‘do this’, but it's about me. If I choose to do it, I will do it. I have a big mentality. Sadio Mané told me the same, that ‘I know your quality, but I don’t know your mentality. If you are strong here [in the mind], you’ll be a really good player’, so I will keep it.”
You have had a great start at West Ham here in east London, where you have a Senegalese community to keep you grounded. Is there anything particular about Senegalese culture you enjoy?
“We have a big community of Muridiyya (a Sufi Islamic holy order based on principles of nonviolence, hard work, peace and education), which is a big community, even in Senegal. I meet the guys here and I spend a lot of time with them. I stopped listening to music in 2019 and started to read the Quran. It was difficult, but I just keep quiet.”
Who has helped you settle in?
“Nayef [Aguerd] helped me a lot before he left and [Jean-Clair] Todibo because we are Muslim and we are close, so he made it easy for me to make the adaptation here. Also with Alphonse [Areola] because he’s French speaking and I can communicate with him, so it was not difficult. I’m open to talk to everyone, so it makes it easy.”
You often wear your boubou (a long, flowing, wide-sleeved robe) to Rush Green training ground. Does that keep you connected to your culture?
“I'm a Senegalese boy, so I have to represent them everywhere, so every Friday I want to put on my traditional boubou, but it’s not like to show the people. It's something I did before, so I just continue to do it.”
You went home for international duty recently and visited your EMD Foundation in Dakar, so can you tell us what it is and why you started it?
“I just want to help the poor people there in Senegal. The first thing I do is to help the children, because now it's school so I can help them to have some material, some bag, pants, a lot of things to help, because I know it's difficult for the parents. Now the economy is difficult, so I just take some money to help them to buy some things for them so I think it was really good.”
You are a great role model, so what is your advice to children who want to emulate your success?
“I just tell them to have a passion. If they want to play football, they have to love the sport first. And go to school! Don’t be like me because I was a little bit crazy.
“Okay, I was at school. I have my baccalaureate and everything, but I was not a really, really good student, but I was good. I just want to tell them to go to school every day, because we don't know our future. Maybe God wrote it before that I would become a player and I don’t know about them.
“It will not be easy for them and they have to make a lot of sacrifices, but school and sport can help them about the future.”
Who was your own role model?
“It’s difficult but maybe I can say Sadio Mané because he helped a lot of families in Senegal. He gave us a lot of experience and said ‘if you have something, you have to help the poor people’, so he made it great in Senegal. Everyone loves him, so I think he’s the big example for us as young players.”
How do you want people to see you?
“I have to work first to represent myself as not a bad person, but to give them a good example. The world is difficult now, but I am a normal person and I don’t know if people want to be like me. I’m young and can’t say I’m a role model, but maybe in the future I can be like Sadio Mané. Ask me again in the future!
“I think it is the good way to help not only the family, but in your city, so you can help a lot of people. They told me ‘you have the talent, so if you want to be a footballer, you have to work and work hard’. I have a lot of friends and every time they're talking to me about that. I think it was only to help the family to be comfortable.
“I love football, I have the passion and I was thinking ‘I can make it’, so today I'm proud.”
