Mourinho gives Real Madrid’s Yan Diomande time to grow into €125m role

Jose Mourinho is deliberately easing Yan Diomande into life at Real Madrid, with the manager determined not to repeat what he sees as the mistake made with Franco Mastantuono by giving a high-profile signing too much responsibility too soon.

Diomande has played 25, six and 26 minutes in Real Madrid’s opening three La Liga matches this season against Espanyol, Real Sociedad and Malaga. To the average supporter, that represents limited involvement for the most expensive signing in the club’s history, after Real Madrid paid €125m for the Ivory Coast international.

Mourinho, however, is sticking to a carefully planned approach designed to reduce pressure on the young player and allow him the time he needs to settle. The manager believes rushing the process could damage the wider project and prevent Diomande from developing as expected.

The 20-year-old is expected to play an important role for Real Madrid this season and become the high-profile player the club signed. But after the match against Malaga, Mourinho outlined why he is resisting calls for an immediate transformation from his new arrival.

“He has to take it step by step, he works a lot and well. He is open and humble, he wants to learn, he listens to his team-mates and he will develop,” Mourinho said.

The Real Madrid manager added: “I cannot look at €120m or €130m… how much did we pay? I have to look at a player coming from a high-level season with Leipzig. When we talk about such a huge figure, we are talking about someone who arrives and explodes with all his strength from the beginning. But that is not the case, he is a young player. Calm down, take it easy.”

Mourinho’s patience serves two purposes. It gives Diomande the opportunity to adapt to his new surroundings while also ensuring fair treatment for players such as Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz, who impressed during pre-season and have spent several years establishing their positions within the squad.

The article contrasts that approach with Xabi Alonso’s handling of Mastantuono. Alonso is described as having favoured the new arrival ahead of players including Rodrygo, Diaz and even Vinicius Junior.

That decision, according to the report, exposed Mastantuono before he was ready to start regularly and contributed to Alonso losing control of the dressing room.

Mourinho instead intends to protect Diomande while gradually increasing his playing time. If his progress continues smoothly, the Ivory Coast player will eventually challenge for a place in the starting line-up, but without being burdened by the expectation that he must justify his transfer fee immediately.

The manager is also giving Diomande significant individual attention in training so the player can understand how Real Madrid’s system and movements work.

Diomande has accepted the situation and retains confidence in Mourinho. He has remained relaxed and continues to smile despite arriving with substantial top-level experience from his previous campaign at RB Leipzig.

Last season, he played in 33 of Leipzig’s 34 Bundesliga matches, starting 28 of them. He scored 12 goals and provided eight assists.

Readers can discuss the subject and other football news in greater depth on the Kooora forums.