First Team Squad

Player profile and performance records.

El Hadji Malick Diouf (Defender)

Squad Number: 12
Position: Defender
Born: 28th Dec 2004 (Dakar, Senegal)
Signed: 15th Jul 2025 (£19,000,000)
Contract: 5 years (signed July 2025)
Previous Club: Slavia Prague

KUMB Awards: None.

The full back, who can also operate as a wing back made his name playing for Tromso in Norway having began his football career at the Galaxy Football Academy and then the Acad?(C)mie Mawade Wade in Senegal.

In January 2024, after just 11 months with Tromso, Diouf signed for Czech top flight club Slavia Prague on a four-and-a-half-year contract, helping the club to win the Czech title during his one and only season in the Czech capital. He scored seven goals and made three assists in 24 league appearances that season.

A year-and-a-half later he made a big money move to east London, joining West Ham for a fee of ?,?22million (??19million) plus ?,?4million in add-ons.

2025/26 Match Notes & Ratings

vs Newcastle United

1-3: Sunday, 17th May
(Played 90 minutes)

Schoolboy football on goals one and three. A couple good crosses sprinkled in amongst more poor ones. He isn't a wing back in a game where the player needs to control the whole flank and play as an attacking force, not a bonus runner.

vs Arsenal

0-1: Saturday, 9th May
(Played 90 minutes)

Attacked and defended well, the odd moment of wobble aside, and rose to the task well considering he had a lot more to do on the flanks and was faced with an in-form Saka.

vs Crystal Palace

0-0: Monday, 20th April
(Played 90 minutes)

A threat going forward, with some fantastic crosses, and another very sharp and strong game in defence. There were a few crosses that he played in without the angle for what he was trying, and they were overhit, but he was more of an attacking threat than most of his teammates and some of his crosses deserved more.

vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

4-0: Friday, 10th April
(Played 90 minutes)

Keeps improving defensively, and whilst his crosses weren't quite there today, he's getting better at his interchanges down the wing and remains a weapon with the way he whips balls into the box. Some crucial clearances near his own goal today.

vs Leeds United

2-2: Sunday, 5th April
(Played 90 minutes)

Combative in defence, with a couple very good and important challenges, whilst showing a decent understanding with Traore when the winger moved to his side. Some of his crosses were phenomenal, but found no reward. Whilst Fernandes gets a lot of the attention, losing Diouf after relegation would be another huge blow.

vs Aston Villa

0-2: Sunday, 22nd March
(Played 90 minutes)

One exceptional cross deserved more, and one very clever block saved his side from an open chance for Villa.

vs Manchester City

1-1: Saturday, 14th March
(Played 90 minutes)

Flew forward with great energy to support attacks, and got back at great pace, too. The defence looks much better with him and Wan-Bissaka as part of the unit.

vs Fulham

1-0: Wednesday, 4th March
(Played 90 minutes)

Some wayward crosses in good areas were frustrating, and he wasn't at his best in possession overall. But he stood up to his task in defence and kept running late on.

vs AFC Bournemouth

0-0: Saturday, 21st February
(Played 90 minutes)

One beautiful cross nearly forced a goal, and one brilliant block probably saved one. Defended Rayan reasonably well, won a lot in the air (7 aerial duels won), and whilst not as influential on the whole game as others, he did his part very well.

vs Burton Albion

1-0: Saturday, 14th February

Did not play.

vs Manchester United

1-1: Tuesday, 10th February
(Played 90 minutes)

Had a reasonably good game, getting away with the one moment Amad really skinned him. Didn't make an impact going forward.

vs Burnley

2-0: Saturday, 7th February
(Played 90 minutes)

Scarles had done well in Diouf's absence, but the left back has come in and shown why he is first choice. He defends well, still improving in the rigours of Premier League football, but it is his delivery from wide that sets him apart. The cross for Castellanos's goal was perfect in every way, with a beautiful curl, wonderful pace and flight, and in the exact spot it needed to be to make the striker's job easy.

vs Chelsea

2-3: Saturday, 31st January
(Played 90 minutes)

Didn't offer the threat going forward that Wan-Bissaka did, but then the play did build from the right with Bowen more than it did on the left. Defended reasonably well and had no issues with Gittens, Neto or Palmer.

vs Aston Villa

2-3: Saturday, 13th December
(Played 90 minutes)

Slightly loose on McGinn for the first goal, but recovered well and had a big hand in the second West Ham goal.

vs Brighton & Hove Albion

1-1: Saturday, 6th December
(Played 90 minutes)

Has quietened down a little in recent weeks with his attacking threat, and is liable to let a winger beat him too easily at least once a game, but is definitely improving as a defender.

vs Manchester United

1-1: Wednesday, 3rd December
(Played 90 minutes)

Got better, but struggled with the acceleration of Amad, and was often dealing with two with speed as Mbeumo doubled up. Lacked an attacking presence.

vs Liverpool

0-2: Saturday, 29th November
(Played 90 minutes)

Needs to get a little bit cuter and find a trick to create space for his crossing, as he often just hits it regardless of pressure.

vs AFC Bournemouth

2-2: Saturday, 22nd November
(Played 90 minutes)

He was busy defensively, making 10 clearances, but his ability on the ball was very much lacking. He lost the ball too often.

vs Burnley

3-2: Saturday, 8th November
(Played 90 minutes)

Still has the odd moment where he's not putting his winger under enough pressure, but hard to fault him too much on the first goal as going to either man would have left the other in too much space. Pushed forward and offered an attacking threat.

vs Newcastle United

3-1: Saturday, 1st November
(Played 90 minutes)

He made quite a lot of tackles, six being double the number of anyone else, but also was found lacking on a few occasions, especially positionally in the second half as Newcastle made moves into his defensive channel.

vs Leeds United

1-2: Saturday, 25th October
(Played 90 minutes)

Looked confused and lost as a winger, never really got going as a left back. Tried six crosses, never found a West Ham player.

vs Brentford

0-2: Saturday, 18th October
(Played 45 minutes, sub)

(Walker-Peters 46') Failed to impress, or really offer much going forward considering he was a wing back.

vs Arsenal

0-2: Saturday, 4th October
(Played 90 minutes)

A harsh rating, but it felt too easy to get behind him at times. One-on-one with Saka, he was generally fine, and he won't feel bad about his work against one of the best wingers in the league. But with a bit of space behind and limited impact going forward, he's had better showing.

vs Everton

1-1: Monday, 29th September
(Played 90 minutes)

Such a danger on the overlap, and improved at the back after a tricky first half saw Ndiaye really threaten him.

vs Crystal Palace

1-2: Saturday, 20th September
(Played 90 minutes)

Probably the bright spark of the season so far, his defending improving with every game, and a continued and consistent threat on the left wing, with an assist from a corner today.

vs Tottenham Hotspur

0-3: Saturday, 13th September
(Played 90 minutes)

Did well against Kudus, looked to be up for the physical side of the game against the former Hammer, who has incredible strength in possession. Got up and down the flank, delivered some powerful crosses that were just away from teammates. He looks to be improving defensively for this league with each game.

vs Nottingham Forest

3-0: Sunday, 31st August
(Played 90 minutes)

The cross was excellent and the forward work was good, but it's the grit he showed at the back that stands out after some questions were raised about his defensive work. Won some good headers.

vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

2-3: Tuesday, 26th August
(Played 90 minutes)

As discussed, his potential is being limited by the midfield's inability to use him, but he didn't have much impact on the game as his runs were ignored, and he lacks a touch of skill to square up and beat men on his own.

vs Chelsea

1-5: Friday, 22nd August
(Played 90 minutes)

Hard to gauge his suitability for the league at the moment, but he appears physically up to the task, both in his strength and his conditioning. Needs a game where we use his width in attack.

vs Sunderland

0-3: Saturday, 16th August
(Played 90 minutes)

Naive defending at times, pressing forward on players alone when it needed to be the group or not at all. But could have scored, only stopped by majestic defending, and looked up to the fight of the Premier League. That is a very big positive.