Who is Assane Diao? Age, club, position and stats

Assane Diao Diaoune, born in Ndangane, Senegal, on 7 September 2005, is a 6ft 1in right-footed winger at Como. He has four goals across Serie A and the Champions League this season, represented Spain’s youth sides before switching to Senegal, and has been out with a thigh injury since mid-October.

Who is Assane Diao?

Diao spent his early professional years in Spain, scoring six goals in 25 games for Betis Deportivo and six in 47 for Betis’ first team, including 15 European appearances. He joined Como in January 2025 for a reported fee of around €12m (Wikipedia) and has 43 appearances and 14 goals for the Italian club in total. In 2024 he won the European Under-19 Championship with Spain, then switched allegiance to Senegal: FIFA approved the change on 19 March 2025, he has nine caps, and Wikipedia lists him in the 26-man Senegal squad for the 2026 World Cup, which fits the Commons photo from France v Senegal on 16 June 2026.

That makes him a player at the intersection of three football cultures: born in Senegal, trained in the Spanish academy system, and now a regular in Italy. The Como move was announced on 7 January 2025, so he has barely a season and a half in Serie A behind him.

Position and profile

He is right-footed and listed mainly as a right winger by FotMob (second choice left wing), while Wikipedia labels him a left winger. Either way, he can work off both flanks, cutting in from the left or hugging the line on the right. His tracked top speed of 34.44 km/h in the Champions League is striking for a 1.85m player, though it comes from only two matches.

2026/27 form against last season

In Serie A he has made six appearances, five as a starter, for 427 minutes, with two goals, one assist and an average FotMob rating of 7.67. Sources disagree slightly on the appearance count (FBref’s snippet showed four), and we have followed FotMob. In the Champions League UEFA credit him with two appearances, 109 minutes and two goals, one with each foot, while completing 26 of 31 passes.

The match references: he came on for 23 minutes at Feyenoord on 14 October and scored in a 3-2 Como defeat (FotMob 7.0), and a week earlier he played 88 minutes of a goalless Serie A draw with Roma, picking up a yellow. Last season he made 17 Serie A appearances, 13 starts, for 1,084 minutes with two goals and an assist, plus three Coppa Italia games. So he has matched last season’s league goal tally in six games, although the sample is small and he is now injured.

Senegal and international record

He has nine senior caps without a goal. In September’s AFCON qualifiers he played 83 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Mozambique and 55 in a 1-0 win in Ethiopia, and he had one minute in the 4 October friendly against Comoros. For Spain he played twice for the U18s (two goals), 11 times for the U19s and between three (FotMob) and four (Wikipedia) times for the U21s.

Injury and contract

FotMob lists a thigh injury from 14 October with a return expected in late November; Como’s next Serie A game, at home to Cagliari on 21 November, is a likely target. We could not find a reliable source for his contract expiry, so none is given.

How does he play?

The available data point to a pace-based winger who attacks the box and has shown two-footed finishing. Strengths: speed, size for the position, versatility across both flanks, goal involvement in big games. Areas to watch: his 6.70 average rating last season, the thigh injury and a small sample this year. Without xG, xA, dribbling or duel data we are not going to make firmer claims about his pressing or ball-carrying.

How does he look in Football Manager 2027?

Football Manager 2027 lists him as an attacking right/left winger at Como with current ability 147, potential 160, a £77m in-game valuation and a contract to 2029. That is game data, not a real-world performance measure or verified contract detail; the game’s six caps for Senegal is behind the real figure of nine.

Could he suit a Turkish Süper Lig side?

We could not verify his current market price; Como paid around €12m in 2025 but a Champions League goalscorer and World Cup squad member is unlikely to be cheap now, so a Süper Lig move does not look realistic today and we name no club. As a profile, a quick, direct winger would suit a side that attacks in transition, but that is possible tactical fit, not reported interest. We give no foreign-player quota figure.

GegenSports verdict

Diao is a fast winger with a promising early-season return and a clear international path, so his profile is worth following. We need the injury timeline, deeper chance-creation numbers and contract details before saying more.

Frequently asked questions

How old is Assane Diao?

He was born on 7 September 2005 and is 21 as of 11 November 2026.

Where is Assane Diao from?

Ndangane, Senegal. He plays for Senegal, having represented Spain at youth level.

Which club does Assane Diao play for?

Como in Serie A, since January 2025, wearing number 11.

What position does Assane Diao play?

A right-footed winger who can play on either flank.

How many goals has Assane Diao scored in 2026/27?

Two in six Serie A games and two in two Champions League games as of 11 November 2026; he has been out with a thigh injury since October.

Photo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons