Lee Peltier says El Hadji Diouf thrived off portraying the 'bad boy image' but insists that he was a 'really good guy' behind closed doors.
Diouf landed at Elland Road during the twilight of his career, after spells in the Premier League with Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers, and in Scotland with Rangers.
The former Senegal international was never far away from controversy, with his many acts of ill-discipline often overshadowing his quality on the pitch.
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Peltier played with Diouf for two seasons at Leeds United, and suggests that beyond the antics was both a good player and a very different character.
"He was a character," Peltier told the Second Tier Pod. "I spent a lot of time with Dioufy, obviously we had the links from back in Liverpool but he was a different guy.
"Obviously [because of] the stuff he'd achieved in his career he was a superstar in Senegal and in Africa, and he just portrayed that bad boy image but deep down he was a really good guy.
"As a player, people don't realise how good he actually was, he was a really good player, even when he came to Leeds I think I'm right in saying he initially came on a rolling contract and then got a new contract there because he was doing that well. As a player, he was really good and I got on really well with him as a lad as well.
"Yeah [he] definitely [played up to the bad boy image] - with Dioufy he used to love the limelight and the cameras and all that sort of stuff, he'd play up to it but behind closed doors he was a top fella."
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