Yan Diomande’s First Words at Real Madrid: ‘You Can’t Say No’
Yan Diomande has given his first interview as a Real Madrid player, and the message from the marquee summer arrival was simple: this was always the dream. The winger spoke to the club’s media on Tuesday after completing a reported €140m move from RB Leipzig — a package Madrid Universal describes as the biggest fee in the club’s history.
The Ivorian arrives to fill the right wing, where Los Blancos have lacked a natural option for years, but patience is required. Having trained only twice since arriving on Friday, he has been left out of Wednesday’s Teresa Herrera meeting with Deportivo La Coruña for lack of match fitness, with his debut now expected in Sunday’s final friendly against Schalke.
What Yan Diomande said
“I am proud and happy because this was my dream. When I was a child I wanted to play for the biggest clubs in the world. I am grateful to be here and I am happy and proud. I want my family to be proud of me.”
Speaking via Madrid Universal, he called Real Madrid “the biggest club in the world” and insisted that “when they call you, you can’t say no”, before reserving special thanks for the manager who pushed for the deal: “I want to thank the coach because we had a conversation before and I’m here thanks to him and the club, of course.”
The excitement is not confined to the Bernabéu. Borja Jiménez, who coached him at Leganés, told AS the youngster showed “things I’d hardly ever seen before” from his first session, calling him a different breed.
José Mourinho pushed personally for this signing, and with a club-record fee comes club-record expectation. If the fitness work goes to plan, Sunday against Schalke is when Madridistas get their first look.
