Lamine Diatta born July 2, 1975 in Dakar, is a Senegalese footballer who currently plays as a defender yet is not attached to any club after being released by Newcastle United.
Diatta played in all of Senegal's matches in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Before moving to Olympique Lyon in 2004, Diatta played 142 games for Stade Rennais, scoring 9 goals in that time. Before his time at Rennes, he was at Marseille, but never actually played a game for them. Diatta's first club was Toulouse FC. He spent one season there and played 25 games without scoring. In his first year (2004/2005) with Lyon he played 19 games. During his second year (2005/2006) at Lyon, he was troubled with injury and only makes 13 appearances also without goals. On August 2006, he left Lyon on free transfer in search for regular team football, settling at St. Étienne. He has also played 40 games for his national side, scoring three goals.
On March 7, 2008, after a week's trial at Newcastle United, Diatta agreed a short term deal until the end of the season after buying out his contract at Beşiktaş J.K.. The deal was finally confirmed by the club on March 14 after a week of confusion.
On April 5, 2008 he made his first team début for Newcastle as a substitute in the Premier League match against Reading, though he was released on May 15. (source wikipedia)