Keita Balde

Keita Balde Diao (born 8 March 1995), commonly known as Keita, is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Serie A club Cagliari. Born in Spain, he decided to represent Senegal at international level, his father's country of origin.

Club Career

Early career

Born in Arbucies, Girona, Catalonia, to Senegalese parents, Keita came up through the FC Barcelona's youth academy. In 2010, Keita travelled with the Barcelona youth team to Qatar for a tournament, where he played a practical joke by placing an ice-cube in a teammate's bed; As a punishment, Barcelona sent the 15-year-old Keita on loan to satellite club UE Cornella, despite his reputation as a future prospect for the first team. The loan meant Cornella held the rights to a fraction of Keita's playing rights. After a season in which he scored 47 goals for Cornella's youth side, Keita turned down the chance to return to Barcelona, attracting the interest of Real Madrid and Manchester United.

Lazio

In the summer of 2011, Keita was signed by Serie A club Lazio for a €300,000 transfer fee, of which 10% went to Cornella. 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. However, he impressed while playing in the Torneo Karol Wojtyla youth competition, where he scored six goals in just four matches.

Keita then spent the 2012–13 season playing with Lazio's Primavera youth side and training with the first team. He was selected by head coach Vladimir Petkovic 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. Five days later, Keita made his debut in the Euro

This page also has a version in other languages :  Кейта Бальде (russian)