Lassana "Lass" Diarra (born 10 March 1985 in Paris) is a French
footballer who currently plays for
Real Madrid. His predominant position is
defensive midfielder but he can also play in a more advanced role and has played at
right back, which he occasionally did for former clubs
Chelsea and
Portsmouth, as well as
France.
Club career
Early career
Diarra was turned down by several football clubs as a youngster.
FC Nantes deemed him too "small and lightweight" to succeed at 170 cm and 58 kg (5'7" and 9
stone). Diarra admitted he thought his "football career was over". His next stop was
Le Mans UC, where Diarra claimed they "didn't seem to care" about him.
Le Havre
Diarra's footballing career finally began at
Le Havre, a former French top-flight football team. Outstanding in his defensive midfield role, his reputation started to grow and impressive performances saw his selection to the French U-21 squad. Along with the reputation came interest from other clubs, and
Chelsea became potential suitors. With Chelsea's
Claude Makélélé not getting any younger, Chelsea's wide network of scouts tagged Diarra as the "new Makélélé" and the club promptly paid
£1 million for his services in July 2005.
Chelsea
Diarra was in
Chelsea's first team squad in the 2005–06...
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