Houllier equivocally questioning Diarra's ego. The feud culminated on 6 April when Houllier dropped Diarra from the squad to face Valenciennes the following day and then ordered him to play for the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth level of French football. Diarra refused the orders and Houllier responded by reportedly threatening not to play him for the rest of the season. The Lyon manager later stated the Diarra should issue an apology to him and the team. The defensive midfielder did not budge and, subsequently, missed the team's next four league matches, as well as the 2007 Coupe de la Ligue Final. Diarra returned to the team on 28 April playing the entire match in a 3–1 win over Le Mans. He repeated this feat in three of the team's last five matches as Lyon were crowned champions for the sixth consecutive season. Included in one of those three matches was Diarra's first league goal for the club, which came in a 3–0 victory over his former club Lens. Bordeaux 2007–2009 After the 2006–07 season with Lyon, Diarra sought to play for another club and was linked primarily to English clubs Manchester City and Portsmouth. In July 2007, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas confirmed that the club had accepted a bid of £5 million from Portsmouth. However, Aulas also revealed that Diarra refused the move and preferred to stay in France and join Bordeaux. On 20 July, after a week-long negotiation, Bordeaux confirmed the signing of Diarra. The midfielder signed a four-year contract and the transfer fee was priced at €7.75 million. Diarra stated his primary reason for joining Bordeaux over Portsmouth was because Bordeaux "wants to play for the first positions in Ligue 1 and I am attracted to that". Diarra was signed as a replacement for the departed Rio Mavuba who ventured to Spain. His arrival to the club also coincided with the insertion of former football player Laurent Blanc as manager. Diarra was assigned the number 4 shirt and made his competitive debut for the club on 4 August 2007 in a 1–0 league win over his former club Lens receiving a yellow card. On 29 August, he scored his first goal for the club in its 1–0 win over Metz. Diarra was a regular within the starting lineup for the entire season starting all 36 league matches he appeared in. He