Over 12 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 320 matches and 12 goals, with Racing de Santander, Levante, Espanyol and Eibar.

Born in Kaolack, Diop moved to France at early age and played youth football for Stade Rennais FC, making his first-team – and Ligue 1 – debut on 5 August 2006, as an injury-time substitute in a 1–2 home loss against Lille OSC.

[3] In the summer of 2006 he joined Tours FC, being relegated from Ligue 2 in his first season; in his beginnings, he was often deployed as an attacking midfielder and a second striker.

[8] In the 2011–12 campaign, Diop played all but four matches for the Cantabrians and totalled 2,864 minutes of action, but his team was relegated nonetheless after finishing 20th.

[15] On 4 May 2014, Diop appeared to be subjected to monkey chants from a section of Atlético Madrid fans, and provided a unique response by dancing in front of his abusers.