Yan Diomande has featured in every Real Madrid match since his €125m move from RB Leipzig, but the Ivorian winger is yet to start for Jose Mourinho. His limited involvement has been endorsed by Ivory Coast manager Herve Renard and former Elephants goalkeeper Alain Gouamene.
Real Madrid agreed to pay €125m plus €15m in bonuses for Diomande, signing him on a seven-year contract. The Spanish club was the only one prepared to meet RB Leipzig’s asking price, after other major European clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, withdrew from the race because of what were considered excessive demands from the player’s representatives and some members of his entourage.
The deal eventually made Diomande the most expensive African footballer in history, although his early months in Madrid have attracted considerably less attention on the pitch.
Mourinho has used him as a substitute in every match. Diomande played about 25 minutes against Espanyol Barcelona in a 2-1 win on 22 August, Malaga in a 4-0 victory on 30 August and Real Betis in a 0-1 defeat on 4 September. He played six minutes in the second Liga match against Real Sociedad, a 4-1 win on 26 August, and 11 minutes against Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, when Real Madrid won 2-1.
Mourinho has repeatedly been asked why the 20-year-old has been given so little playing time and has consistently called for patience.
“He arrived in recent days, without a single training session. We have to take things step by step with him,” he said.
The Portuguese manager had previously praised Diomande’s attitude, adding: “He works well, he works hard. He is humble, open, he listens to me and he listens to his team-mates. He will improve because he has incredible potential.”
Real Madrid face neighbours Rayo Vallecano at Santiago-Bernabeu on Saturday before travelling to Elche on Tuesday. Those fixtures could offer Diomande another opportunity to increase his involvement.
Renard is due to announce his Ivory Coast squad on 16 September for the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifiers against Ghana and Somalia on 24 and 29 September. The Elephants will then play Cameroon in a friendly in Abidjan on 3 October.
Gouamene, who worked with Diomande while part of Emerse Fae’s technical staff, said the debate around the player’s start in Madrid was predictable.
“He has just over a year and a half of professional football behind him, at Leganes and Leipzig, where he completed his only full season,” said the former Africa Sports, ASEC and Toulouse goalkeeper, who won the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations.
“I do not think he imagined finding himself at Real Madrid so soon. He is a player for the future, with room to improve, and he has joined a club with a lot of competition. Jose Mourinho is therefore entirely right to take his time, and I believe he is a manager who knows his job well.”
Comparisons with Lamine Yamal are inevitable, Gouamene added, but said the circumstances were different.
“Yamal was born in Spain and developed at Barcelona. Diomande comes from Abidjan and has only been in Europe for barely two years,” he said, insisting it was “far too early” to draw conclusions and predicting that Diomande “will succeed at Real Madrid.”