Anderlecht officially has a squad of 28 players, but in reality there is a 29th. A completely forgotten player, but who weighs very heavily on the salary budget, in the person of Amadou Diawara.
It’s already been two years since Amadou Diawara landed at Anderlechtwho paid 1.9 million for him at AS Roma. A big name with a solid CV supposed to supervise young people after the injury to Adrien Trebel. The Guinean agreed to a significant pay cut, but at the time sporting director Peter Verbeke still had to pay him a salary of around 1.5 million euros.
It’s a transfer that weighs like a ball around the Mauves’ necks. 1.5 million is approximately what executives like Thorgan Hazard and Jan Vertonghen receive. Francis Amuzu and Yari Verschaeren must also be located in these surroundings.
But where is Diawara currently? When Brian Riemer took the reins, he gave him a lot of playing time, before the player gradually disappeared. He therefore no longer played a single minute in the championship in 2024.
A golden contract that he won’t find anywhere else
Diawara maintains his fitness with the youngsters, but there was never any question of him becoming the “older player” playing with the RSCA Futures. Anderlecht chose Joren Dom for this role. The club has wanted to sell him for a long time, but they can’t get rid of him, even by selling him off.
For his part, the 27-year-old midfielder knows that he will not find a better contract elsewhere and simply wants to stay until the end of the season. Sell it this winter? Olivier Renard will certainly have to pull out all the stops. Or find an agreement with him. In any case, he will no longer receive another opportunity at Sporting. In the meantime, he wanders, both in Neerpede and in the heads of decision-makers…
