The ex-Mali star won multiple league titles in France and Spain, but doesn't get the praise his success deserves
The Olympique Lyonnais side at the start of the last decade will live long in the memory, having won the club’s first ever Ligue 1 title in 2002/03.
What made their success extra special was their subsequent unrelenting form in claiming six more French top flight titles to win seven on the spin, a record that still stands.
Mahamadou Diarra was signed from Vitesse Arnhem after the side’s first of seven titles and he worked his way from a rotational midfield option to constant pick in the middle of the park to help Les Gones win four titles in his time at the club.