Massadio Haïdara
Massadio Haïdara (born 2 December 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ligue 1 club Lens. Born in France, he plays for the Mali national team. Club career. Nancy. Haïdara made his professional debut on 11 December 2010 in a league match against Sochaux. On 10 January 2011, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a three-year deal with Nancy. Newcastle United. On 25 January 2013, Haïdara signed for English club Newcastle United of the Premier League for an undisclosed fee (reportedly £2 million) to become Newcastle's ninth  first-team player with French nationality and fourth of five French players signed in the January 2013 transfer window. He made his debut for Newcastle on 21 February 2013 in the Europa League against Metalist Kharkiv. Haïdara came on as a first-half substitute in the match against Wigan Athletic on 17 March 2013. A few minutes later, he was stretchered off as a result of a knee-high tackle on him by Callum McManaman and taken to hospital; and returned to first-team action on 11 April against Benfica. Referee Mark Halsey did not see the incident, so McManaman  received no card, and because one of his assistants did see it, albeit not clearly, the Football Association were unable to act. At the end of the season, their rules were changed to permit retrospective action "when match officials are not in a position to fully assess a 'coming together' of players." He made his first league appearance of the 2016–17 season against Barnsley on 7 May 2017, the day that Newcastle clinched the Championship title. The following season he also had to wait until the final game of the season to make his first league appearance, this time against  Chelsea. Lens. In July 2018, after his contract with Newcastle United expired, Haïdara signed on a free transfer for French club RC Lens of the Ligue 2, the second-tier French league. International career. Haïdara has represented France at U21 level. On 9 November 2018, he was called up to Mali national football team. He made his debut for Mali on 26 March 2019 in a friendly against Senegal, as a starter. Honours. Newcastle United