In the summer of 2002, Gerard Houllier's Liverpool had the chance to build upon an impressive season that saw them finish runners-up in the league and reach the Champions League quarter-finals. Supporters wanted to see the club sign players that would improve the squad and construct a title challenge; instead, they got Bruno Cheyrou, El-Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao. Diouf and Diao were signed during that summer's World Cup in Asia, and fans watching Diao's performance against Denmark would be forgiven for not knowing what to expect from their new £5m signing. The central midfielder gave away a penalty, scored one of the goals of the tournament, and was later sent off. He arrived at Anfield to compete with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Dietmar Hamann and Danny Murphy in the Reds' engine room, and made his debut as a late sub in a 2-2 draw at Blackburn in late August. Defensive injuries saw him pressed into service at the back early in his Reds career, most notably in a Champions League defeat in Valencia when Liverpool were torn apart by Rafa Benitez' Spanish champions. The Champions League did provide Salif with his first Reds goal though, a late header from an Emile Heskey cross in a 5-0 win over Spartak Moscow at Anfield. His next goal was more crucial; Salif converted compatriot Diouf's cross to score the only goal at Elland Road (the photo above is during the game) as Liverpool went top of the league in October. Injuries, notably to Hamann, saw Diao play 40 times in his debut season in England but it was a disappointing campaign for the club, who went out of the Champions League early and then failed to qualify for it for 2003/04. Diao would play just seven times in what would prove to be Houllier's final season and was now very much considered surplus to requirements. However, Benitez's arrival in the summer of 2004 offered him a lifeline, and he featured fourteen times for the Reds, scoring the opener in a League Cup win at Millwall, before being shipped out on loan to Birmingham. Injury cut short that spell after just two games, but Diao now had no future at Liverpool. He was sent on loan to Portsmouth for 2005/06, where again injury limited his appearances, before a third loan move to Stoke City in October 2006 finally ended in a permanent deal. (Mark Jones)