Keita Baldé

Keita Baldé Diao (born 8 March 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Serie A club Monza.

After a season in which he scored 47 goals for Cornellà's youth side, Keita turned down the chance to return to Barcelona, attracting the interest of Real Madrid and Manchester United.

[3] Keita was unable to play official matches for Lazio's youth sides for a year, as he had to wait to be granted Spanish citizenship and the EU passport required for the Italian club to register him.

He was selected by head coach Vladimir Petković to sit on the bench for some matches in the latter part of the season but did not make his senior debut.

Promoted to the first team for the following season, Keita made his league debut in a 3–0 home win against Chievo at the Stadio Olimpico on 15 September 2013, coming on as a late substitute for Luis Pedro Cavanda.

[6] On 18 August 2015, Keita came off the bench to score the only goal of the game as Lazio beat Bayer Leverkusen 1–0 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at the Stadio Olimpico.

[10] Later on 23 April, Keita scored his maiden hat-trick, contributing in Lazio's 6–2 thrashing of Palermo, taking his tally up to 11 goals, reaching double figures for the first time in his career.

[12] One week later, in the Derby della Capitale against Roma for the matchday 34, Keita scored a brace, as Lazio won 3–1, the first win in the league against them since November 2012.

[28] On 23 December, after being sidelined for almost two months due to an injury, he scored his first goal for Sampdoria in his fourth appearance, in the 2–3 home defeat against Sassuolo, a game in which he was also sent off.

[40] He was part of Senegal's squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations; the Lions of Teranga went on to win the tournament for the first time in their history.