Real Madrid’s African history: nine players who wore the shirt before Yan Diomande

Yan Diomande is set to become the most expensive African footballer in history and the first Ivorian to play for Real Madrid, after the Spanish club agreed a deal worth more than €100m for the RB Leipzig midfielder.

The move, expected to be completed in the coming days, will see the Ivory Coast international join Jose Mourinho’s squad at the Santiago Bernabeu, where he will link up with Morocco’s Brahim Diaz. Diomande will be only the 10th African player to appear for Real Madrid’s first team.

Here is the African company he is about to join.

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)

Achraf Hakimi came through Real Madrid’s academy and broke into the first team during the 2017-18 season, making 17 senior appearances and scoring once.

Blocked by strong competition at right-back, the Morocco international was sent on loan to Borussia Dortmund for two seasons, before later joining Inter Milan and then Paris Saint-Germain, where he has played since 2021.

Hakimi was still a teenager, aged just 19, when he featured for Real and had not yet become the global star he is today. Transfer windows regularly bring rumours of a return to the Bernabeu for the “Lion of the Atlas”, but no move back has materialised.

Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)

Long before becoming a legend at Barcelona, Samuel Eto’o started out on the other side of the clasico divide with Real Madrid.

Between 1998 and 2000, the Cameroon striker played seven matches for Real without scoring. Aged only 17 when he arrived, he struggled to make a breakthrough in a squad packed with attacking talent.

In January 2000 he was loaned to Mallorca, where his career truly took off and set the stage for his prolific spells at Barcelona and Inter Milan.

Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)

Emmanuel Adebayor, one of the standout forwards of his generation with Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham, also had a short but noteworthy stay at Real Madrid.

The Togo international joined on loan from Manchester City in January 2011 and stayed until the end of that season. He scored eight goals in 22 appearances, a respectable record over half a campaign.

However, with Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain already competing for the central striker role, Real chose not to activate the purchase option on Adebayor’s deal.

Brahim Diaz (Morocco)

Brahim Diaz had a low-key first spell at Real Madrid between 2019 and 2020, but a successful three-year loan at AC Milan transformed his prospects.

Returning to Madrid with more experience and maturity, the attacking midfielder has rarely been an undisputed starter amid fierce competition, but has often impressed from the bench or during squad rotation, contributing creativity, dribbling and occasional decisive goals.

During this second stint, he also made a pivotal decision over his international future. Having represented Spain at youth level and earned one senior cap for La Roja, Brahim opted in 2024 to play for Morocco, swayed by the project of the “Lions of the Atlas” and his family roots. The switch boosted his popularity among Moroccan fans while his Real performances underlined his ability to influence games despite limited minutes.

Geremi Njitap (Cameroon)

Geremi Njitap may not have been the biggest name in Real Madrid’s Galactico era, but he enjoyed a significant spell at the club from 1999 to 2003.

The versatile Cameroonian midfielder made 108 appearances and scored three goals for Real. Despite his regular involvement, he was not a permanent first-choice starter and missed both of the club’s Champions League final victories in 2000 and 2002.

After leaving Madrid, Geremi continued his career in England with Middlesbrough, Chelsea – where he spent four seasons – and Newcastle United, before ending his playing days at Ankaragucu in Turkey and Larissa in Greece.

Michael Essien (Ghana)

Ghana midfielder Michael Essien, who had previously played for Lyon, is best remembered for his time at Chelsea, where he made 256 appearances and scored 24 goals between 2005 and 2014, winning the 2012 Champions League.

The following season he joined Real Madrid on loan. In his sole campaign in Spain, Essien featured 35 times and scored three goals.

Although he produced solid performances, Real finished as La Liga runners-up and lost the Copa del Rey final, and the club chose not to trigger the option to sign him permanently.

Mahamadou Diarra (Mali)

After four successful seasons at Lyon, Mahamadou Diarra moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2006.

The Mali midfielder spent four and a half years at the Bernabeu, playing 125 matches and scoring four goals. Despite that sizeable tally of appearances, he never fully established himself as an undisputed starter.

Diarra was widely seen as the man brought in to fill the void left by Claude Makelele’s departure to Chelsea three years earlier, but he did not entirely manage to replace him. Even so, he scored a crucial goal on the final day of the 2006-07 La Liga season which helped Real clinch the league title.

Valdo (Cape Verde)

Attacking midfielder Valdo – not to be confused with the more famous Brazilian of the same name who played for Paris Saint-Germain – began his professional journey in Real Madrid’s reserve team at the age of 20.

He was handed a few chances with the first team, making four appearances in total, two of them in the Champions League. However, he did not have the level required to secure a place at Real or break through with Spain’s senior side, having been a youth international for La Roja.

Valdo went on to build a respectable career in La Liga with clubs such as Osasuna, Espanyol and Levante. Later, at the age of 30, he decided to represent Cape Verde at international level.

Javier Balboa (Equatorial Guinea)

Javier Balboa rose through Real Madrid’s youth ranks and made his senior debut in the 2005-06 season.

A loan spell at Racing Santander followed, but even with that experience he found his route to the Real first team blocked by intense competition. Balboa left Madrid having played 15 matches and scored two goals, one of them in the Champions League.

He then moved to Portugal, where he spent much of the rest of his career with Benfica, Beira Mar and Estoril. On the international stage, Balboa was part of the Equatorial Guinea side that finished fourth at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Only players who have featured for Real Madrid’s first team are included in this list – a group that Yan Diomande is now poised to join in historic fashion.