Diagouraga: Toumani

2016-2017 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Central Midfield

Born: Corbeil-Essonnes, Paris, France: 09-06-1987

Debut: v Brentford (h) (Substitute): 26-01-2016

6' 2' 11st 5lb (2015)

Born and grew up in the Corbeil-Essonnes suburb of Paris, the son of Malian immigrants, he played his junior football with Paris St Germain until the end of the 2002-03 season when he was discovered by a Watford scout and taken to Vicarage Road to join the Watford Academy in December 2003 along with fellow countryman Hameur Bouazza. Aidy Boothroyd offered him professional forms and he signed on 22nd October 2004 beating of firm interest from Chelsea. He was one of the leading lights in the Watford Youth team that reached the quarter finals of the 2004-05 F.A. Youth Cup, where his progress was still being monitored by Chelsea. He was on the fringe of the Watford first team but did not make the bench against Preston North End at Deepdale on 7th August 2004 in a 1-2 defeat, but his compatriot Hameur Bouazza came on as a late substitute and went on to feature regularly in the squad. Diagouraga did not make the pitch until the following season when he was called up to start in the home League clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20th September 2005 which the Hornets won 2-1 after extra time and he was given seventy-five minutes before being replaced by Joel Grant. He then started in the next round of the League Cup in a 0-3 loss at Wigan Athletic on 25th October 2005 and played until the eighty-fifth minute when he was replaced by Ben Gill. He got his first start in the Championship in a 1-4 defeat at Turf Moor by Burnley on 17th December 2005 and was replaced at half time by Anthony McNamee. His final game of the season for Watford came in the F. A. Cup on 7th January 2006 in a 0-3 home defeat by Bolton Wanderers, when he played a full game. He was loaned to Swindon Town on 23rd March 2006 until the end of the season. He made an impressive debut in a 2-0 win over Chesterfield after coming on as a substitute for Michael Pook at half time but the home fans were soon to be disappointed as he failed to live up to the locals' comparisons to Patrick Vieira. He went on to start five and come on as a substitute in three other League games, without scoring. He did not make much impression back at Vicarage Road and his appearances for the rest of 2006 amounted to just one League Cup start, allbeit for a full game, in the League Cup in a 0-0 draw, which saw Watford proceed on penalties. On 6th January 2007 he came on as a sixty-second minute substitute for Damien Francis in the 4-1 home win over Stockport County in the F.A. Cup. On 12th January 2007 he went on loan to Rotherham United for the rest of the season. He made his debut the following day as the Millers lost 0-1 at home to Chesterfield and he played a full game. He went on to start four and came from the bench three times during his stay at Millmoor. On 8th August 2007, after a trial, he and Theo Robinson were loaned by Watford to Hereford United for four months. He made his debut three days later when he started and played a full game in a 0-0 draw at home to Rotherham United in a League Two game. On 23rd November 2007 Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd moved in for Hereford's England youth international Lionel Ainsworth, and signed him on loan with a view to the move being made permanent in January. In turn, Theo Robinson and Toumani Diagouraga remained at Hereford on loan until the end of the season, with an option for Diagouraga to make his stay permanent in May. By the end of the 2007-08 season he had scored twice, the first being the opening goal in the fifteenth minute of a 4-2 home win over Bradford City on 22nd September 2007 and the second, the equalising goal in the seventy-seventh minute of a 1-1 draw at Chester on 12th October 2007, and started forty-one League games together with six starts in the F.A. Cup, two in the League Cup and one in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and had helped them to third place and promotion to League One. He signed for Hereford on 8th July 2008 on a three-year contract as Hereford took up their first option as part of a deal which saw Ainsworth join Watford. He had started one League game, three League Cup games and made one F.A. Cup start and one from the bench in his time at Vicarage Road. Unfortunately, while Diagouraga scored twice in forty-five League starts and also started two F.A. Cup and one League Cup ties without scoring, Hereford finished bottom of League One and were relegated back to League Two at the end of the 2008-09 season. It was announced on 17th June 2009 that he had joined Peterborough United, who had just been promoted to the Championship, on a four year contract at a fee thought to be in the region of £200,000. Diagouraga had the subject of interest from Posh a year previous, but opted to remain with the Bulls. The Hereford director of Football, Graham Turner, realised that the disappointment of relegation led to Diagouraga to believe he could play at a higher level and, as there was a clause in the player's deal that allowed him to talk to other clubs, there was little the club could do. He made his debut for his new club in a 4-0 away win at Wycombe Wanderers in the League Cup on 11th August 2009, playing the full game. His first League game came four days later in a 1-1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday. After starting eighteen and coming off the bench once in League games and starting four League Cup games, on 21st January 2010 went on a one month loan to Brentford, making his League debut when he started in the 0-1 away defeat at Norwich City on 23rd January 2010, being replaced by Carl Cort in the fifty-ninth minute. The loan was extended on 28th January 2010 to the end of the season and he went on to complete twenty starts that season. On 16th July Brentford signed him on a three year contract. He made his full-time League debut on 14th August 2010, playing a full game in a 1-2 home defeat by Walsall. He scored his first goal, his only one of the season, in the thirty-first minute of a 2-1 win over Charlton Athletic at Griffin Park, when he scored the Bees' second goal to give them a 2-0 lead. He had established himself by starting thirty-one League games as Brentford finished 11th in League 1. He took part in thirty-five games in the 2011-12 season when the Bees finished in ninth position, scoring four goals as he found the net with two minutes on the clock as he equalised in a 2-2 draw at Carlisle United on 8th October 2011, scored the fourth in the seventy-third minute in the 5-2 home win over Wycombe Wanderers on 28th January 2012, then the opening goal in the thirty-second minute of a 2-0 home win over Rochdale on 24th March 2012 and the second goal in the fifty-ninth minute of a 3-2 away win at Chesterfield on 5th May 2012. He also scored in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, getting the third goal in the sixty-first minute of a 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic at the Valley on 5th October 2011. He then took part in forty-one League games as they finished third in 2012-13 and his only goal that season came with the opening goal in the twenty-first minute of a 2-1 home win over Notts County on 29th March 2013. On 14th February 2013 he signed a two-year extension to his contract, taking him to the end of the 2014-15 season. After starting the 2013-14 season as first choice in midfield he lost his status and spent much time on the bench, often unused.On 17th February 2014 he went on a one month loan spell to League Two side Portsmouth. This was extended to the end of the season on 17th March 2014. He made his debut for Pompey on 22nd February 2014 in a 5-1 defeat at Scunthorpe United in which he started and played a full game. He started eight League games at Fratton Park before Brentford exercised the recall clause in the contract and he returned to Griffin Park on 27th March 2014. His first game back after the loan saw him come on as a seventy-fifth minute replacement for Nico Yennaris in a 0-0 draw at Oldham Athletic on 29th March 2014. He started the next game in another 0-0 draw , at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United, but he came off in favour of George Saville in the seventy-first minute. He started ten and came on as a substitute nine times in the League for the Bees who finished secondin League One and gained promotion to the Championship. 2014-15 saw him start thirty-three in the League and also come off the bench in another seven, as the club came fifth in the Championship. He started twenty-six and was substitute twice in 2015-16 before he was signed by Leeds United on 25th January 2016 on a two and a half year contract. After he became a full-time Brentford player in July 2010, he scored six League goals in one hundred and fifty-seven starts and thirty-three more from the bench, he also scored once in seventeen starts and one game from the bench in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and started ten and came off the bench in two in the F.A. Cup and started four and came off the bench in twoin the League Cup, both without scoring. He made his Leeds debut when he came off the bench in the sixtieth minute to replace Luke Murphy in the away 1-1 draw against his old club Brentford on 26th January 2016. His first start also brought his first goal as he scored the Leeds second goal in the fortieth minute of the 2-1 win at Bolton Wanderers in the F.A. Cup on 30th January 2016. There were two goals in the League in consecutive home games towards the end of the season when he scored United's first goal in the forty- eighth minute in a 3-2 home win over Reading, followed in the next game three days later when he scored the second Leeds goal in the sixty-fourth minute of a 2-1 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. By the end of the 2015-16 season he had scored twice in thirteen starts and four games from the bench in the League and once in two starts in the F.A. Cup.While the 2016-17 started looking bright as he was allocated the #4 jersey and started the first League game at Queens Park Rangers on 7th August 2016, it was to be Diagouraga's only appearance in first team competition for Leeds that season. The 3-0 defeat saw him omitted from the Leeds squad and this remained the case for the rest of the season, as he, Luke Murphy and Ross Turnbull trained with the Under-Twenty-Three team. He was loaned to Ipswich Town on 23rd January 2017 for the rest of the season. He started his first game for them on 28th January 2017 in the 1-1 away draw at Preston North End and was replaced by Kevin Bru in the fifty-seventh minute. He went on to start ten and come off the bench twice for the Tractor Boys before returning to Leeds on 9th May 2017. He took part in the early pre-season games in the 2017-18 season, but he was soon weeded out as being surplus to requirements and was not invited to go on the continental tour with the main squad and was never considered for the first team once the season got underway. Nearing the end of the transfer window on 24th August 2017 the Yorkshire Evening Post reported that "Toumani Diagouraga is poised to end a forgettable spell at Leeds United by severing his Elland Road contract. The midfielder will officially part company with United tomorrow, cutting short a deal which is due to run to the end of this season. Diagouraga’s exit has been on the cards since the start of pre-season and he was declared surplus to requirements after being left of United’s tour of Austria and failing to receive a squad number from head coach Thomas Christiansen. The termination of his deal contract allow Diagouraga to join another club as a free agent."