Following the confirmation of his arrival at West Ham United, we take a photographic journey through El Hadji Malick Diouf’s exciting career in football so far.
Born in Senegal’s capital city, Dakar, in December 2004, the now 20-year-old took his first steps in the game at the Galaxy Football Academy at the age of 13, and then - after four years - moved on to the Académie Mawade Wade.
Aged 18, in February 2023, following a successful trial, Diouf was snapped up by Norwegian Eliteserien club Tromsø, whom he debuted for in a penalty-shootout victory over Start in the Norwegian Cup a month later.
A first goal for Tromso followed in July 2023, in a 2-1 league defeat away at Rosenborg, while he would later find the net against Molde and Odd to take his total tally to three goals in 21 appearances before transferring to Slavia Prague in January 2024.
A dream first game in Czechia saw Diouf score and complete 90 minutes of a 3-0 win over Karviná in February 2024, while he made his UEFA Europa League bow against AC Milan at the round of 16 stage the following month and overall contributed two goals in nine matches during the second half of 2023/24 to help Slavia to a second-place finish in the Czech First League.
In the 2024/25 campaign, our new No12 was outstanding, playing all four UEFA Champions League qualifiers and eight Europa League group-stage ties and scoring seven goals as Slavia dominated the First League, conceding just 18 goals in 35 matches and winning the title by 16 points.
Diouf’s eye-catching performances during 27 league appearances, and 41 in all competitions, earned him two individual divisional awards, for being the best foreign player and the best discovery of the season, while he was also recognised on the international stage, being handed a senior Senegal debut in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi in September 2024.
More recently, he won his fifth and sixth caps for his country earlier this summer, featuring late on in a 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland before starting and playing a key role in an historic 3-1 win over England in Nottingham, as the Lions of Teranga became the first African nation to defeat the 1966 World Cup winners.
Check out the images from our newest recruit’s impressive life on the pitch so far in the gallery above.
