'We’re like a family here': Sunderland's midfielder celebrates positive vibes at the Black Cats.

Vous or Tu? It says a lot about Habib Diarra that his joy at being elevated from the youth ranks at Strasbourg to the first team was accompanied by anxiety over the two distinct words for “you.”

Would addressing new, established teammates by using “tu” be seen as too familiar? In the end, the young midfielder opted for caution and chose the more formal “vous”. Cue widespread amusement from the older players who told him not to be so ridiculous; he was one of them now.

Almost five years later, Diarra is sitting in an office at Sunderland’s Academy of Light detailing why he ignored overtures from, among others, several top European clubs. His innate courtesy remains but it is apparent that the young Senegal international and uncertainty are practically unacquainted. Diarra carries himself with the self-assurance suited to a player who captained Strasbourg at the tender age of twenty and, only last month, returned from Morocco holding an AFCON winners’ medal.

A Defined Vision

Now that the groin issue that kept him out for much of the first half of the league campaign healed, Diarra is on a quest to demonstrate precisely why he agreed to become Sunderland’s most expensive acquisition last summer. Analysts in France and Senegal queried Diarra’s unfashionable choice but he knew all about the manager's standing as a gifted youth coach.

“It came as no shock by the coach’s ability because I already knew what he’s able to achieve,” says Diarra. “Playing against his teams I realised he was very good, very strong in terms of strategy. He’s someone I know is helping my game progress. And although our first objective is reaching 40 points, a place in Europe is certainly a realistic target this season.”

A Unified Environment

Externally, the chilly February wind and driving rain makes Wearside look as bleak as it is often depicted. Inside, things are much more welcoming. The environment is devoid of the type of tension found in certain clubs where office workers are deliberately segregated from Premier League squads. Diarra describes the environment as “very organic” and commends Le Bris’s role in its creation.

“The coach always says to us that we’re like a family here and we all fight for each other,” he says. “Each of us takes pride of each other.”

Freedom Within a Framework

If the organisation, discipline and sheer hard yards underpinning Sunderland’s out-of-possession shape are a proof of the head coach’s attention to minutiae, Le Bris also likes his players to use their initiative. He offers his engine room players full freedom to improvise and interchange positions.

“The coach sets his tactics out within a structure but we have freedom to play within it,” says Diarra, who favors playing as a all-action No 8. “During matches that is empowering. That freedom is so important. Our captain, Granit, helps us a lot. He’s a really big player and a superb role model.”

Journey and Adaptation

Diarra is using a French interpreter but his English has progressed to the point where he can understand most questions. He is now concentrating on acquiring the vocabulary to also answer them, which would be his third language. He is proficient in Wolof, the language he spoke growing up in Guédiawaye near the Senegalese capital.

His precocious maturity helped him deal with the frustration of needing groin surgery followed by four months on the sidelines last autumn. “Being injured so soon after arriving here was frustrating, for sure,” he says. “But it was up to me to handle the situation.”

Diarra is now anticipating playing in this summer’s global tournament. Given Senegal have been drawn in the same group as France, a emotional matchup awaits the former Les Bleus under-21 midfielder. “I enjoyed representing for France but my heart spoke,” says Diarra. “There’s no regrets. I was born in Senegal; it makes me proud to play for them.”

Comparable feelings apply to Sunderland. “I've settled very well,” he says. “I am really comfortable here.”