Yan Diomande’s former coach Borja Jimenez has backed the Ivorian to be a success at Real Madrid and says he will have no problem in switching to the right side and forming a new-look front three with Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe.

The 19-year-old joined Madrid last week from RB Leipzig for a club-record fee of £107million that could rise further with add-ons, signing a seven-year deal at the Santiago Bernabeu.

It was another step in a remarkable rise to prominence with Diomande only making his senior debut 18 months ago, for Leganes against Madrid in March 2025.

A move to Germany followed, with Diomande scoring 13 goals and adding nine assists in 37 games in all competitions.

He will now be thrust into the limelight in the Spanish capital but Jimenez is confident his protege can handle the step-up.

We knew Diomande was special, says Jimenez

He told AS: “Even in Yan’s first training session, you could see an individual talent that could do things that were of another level. That first week showed it was not an isolated event but that he had an enormous capacity for improvement.

“We then carried out specific work after training focused on his decision-making and understanding the game, which is where he adapted the fastest.

“In the end, our job was to simplify things: I told him that when he had the ball at his feet, he decided. My job was to get him the ball in the best way so that he could exploit his innate talent. 

“From the first week we knew that he was special and that he was going to contribute to us from the first day. At the end of the year I said publicly that in one or two years his value would double or triple, and the truth is that I have fallen short, because it has multiplied by five or six times.

“Those of us who are in day-to-day football and have been training for 10 or 12 years, we were very clear that Yan possessed totally different qualities.”

Diomande will thrive on the right at Real Madrid – Jimenez

Vinicius Jr’s decision to renew his contract after months of speculation means the position on the left of Madrid’s attack belongs to the Brazilian but Jimenez says Diomande will have no problem in switching to the right.

He added: “I would say that 70% of his minutes in Germany were played on the right wing. It is true that with us [Leganes] the vast majority of his minutes were on the left, but with Ivory Coast in the World Cup we have seen him appear frequently on the right.

“He won’t have any problem playing on either side.”

A move from Leipzig to the goldfish bowl of Madrid is another issue that Diomande will have to cope with but Jimenez insists the teenager will take it all in his stride.

He added: “Yan is made differently and transmits an incredible hunger. It is evident that at Real Madrid he will quickly realise that the demand and media overexposure have nothing to do with what he has lived so far, but he fully trusts in his ability to show that he is a different player. 

“Time will tell, but there were doubts about his performance in Germany and he ended up being chosen as the best young player. There were also doubts about his role in the World Cup and he showed that he is very good. I think the same thing will happen in Madrid, despite the environment. I have no doubt that from the first day he will lift the Bernabéu with his game.”