# Mouctar Diakhaby

Mouctar Diakhaby (born 19 December 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for La Liga club Valencia. Born in France, he plays for the Guinea national team.

## Early life

Diakhaby was born in Vendôme, France, to Guinean parents, who were from Touba.

## Club career
### Lyon

Diakhaby made his first team debut for Lyon on 10 September 2016 in a Ligue 1 match against Bordeaux, playing the whole match in a 3–1 home loss. On 30 November 2016, he scored his first competitive goal for the Lyon first team in a 6–0 Ligue 1 away rout of Nantes. On 23 February 2017, Diakhaby scored a goal (in the 89th minute) in the 2016–17 Europa League round of 32 second-leg 7–1 home win over AZ Alkmaar to register his first career UEFA Europa League or UEFA Champions League goal. He also scored a goal in each of two legs of the 2016–17 Europa League round of 16 tie against Roma.

### Valencia

On 28 June 2018, Diakhaby signed a five-year deal with Spanish side Valencia. On 3 March 2024, he sustained a serious injury, diagnosed as a dislocated knee, following a collision with Aurélien Tchouaméni during a match against Real Madrid.

## International career

Diakhaby was born in France, but is Guinean by descent. He is a former youth international for France. In 2022 however he decided to represent the home country of his parents, Guinea, and debuted for them against Egypt.
On 23 December 2023, he was selected from the list of 25 Guinean players selected by Kaba Diawara to compete in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 26 January 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Europe | Europe | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Lyon | 2016–17 | Ligue 1 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 5 |
| Lyon | 2017–18 | Ligue 1 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 21 | 2 |
| Lyon | Total | Total | 34 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 7 |
| Valencia | 2018–19 | La Liga | 22 | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | — | — | 38 | 3 |
| Valencia | 2019–20 | La Liga | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| Valencia | 2020–21 | La Liga | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | 1 |
| Valencia | 2021–22 | La Liga | 29 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | 0 |
| Valencia | 2022–23 | La Liga | 29 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 30 | 3 |
| Valencia | 2023–24 | La Liga | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | 1 |
| Valencia | 2024–25 | La Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Valencia | Total | Total | 142 | 7 | 21 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 177 | 8 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 176 | 9 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 232 | 15 |
* ↑ Includes Coupe de France, Copa del Rey
* ↑ Includes Coupe de la Ligue
* ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

### International

    As of match played 2 February 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Guinea | 2022 | 4 | 1 |
| Guinea | 2023 | 5 | 0 |
| Guinea | 2024 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 14 | 1 |
    Scores and results list Guinea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Diakhaby goal.
List of international goals scored by Mouctar Diakhaby :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 27 September 2022 | Stade de la Licorne, Amiens, France | Ivory Coast | 1–3 | 1–3 | Friendly |

## Honours

Valencia
* Copa del Rey: 2018–19