El-Hadji Diouf Bio Send To Friend  

Diouf was reunited with Sam Allardyce in January 2009 when he signed for Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee after a brief sojourn with Sunderland.

The Senegal international had played his best football under Big Sam at Bolton and moved to Ewood Park aiming to recapture those performances.

Diouf, twice named African Player of the Year, arrived in English football following the 2002 World Cup after being named in FIFA's team of the tournament as a £10m purchase for Liverpool from French club RC Lens.

When he finally left Anfield three years later he had built up a reputation as a disruptive influence, an expensive mistake and - as far as the Reds were concerned - a misfit.

His escape route came via Bolton, where he had spent the 2004/05 season on loan after new Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez had spent little time jettisoning him from his squad.

Then Bolton manager Allardyce once again proved his skill at moulding the game's rough diamonds and wayward stars into effective performers for his side.

The forward, who moved to Lens via Dakar, Sochaux and Rennes, is a strong running player who earned the nickname 'Serial Killer' from his team-mates due to his impressive goalscoring tally.

He became notorious after he spat at a Celtic fan after falling into the crowd during a UEFA Cup tie at Parkhead during 2002/3. He has been accused of spitting a few more times since, perhaps not learning the lessons of Parkhead.

Diouf struggled once Allardyce left Bolton and was always likely to move on. He joined Sunderland in the summer of 2008 but it proved to be a mistake as he failed to settle in the north east and the writing was on the wall once manager Roy Keane left the club. He played 16 games for Sunderland, failing to get on the scoresheet, before moving to Rovers when the transfer window reopened.