Diomande's former coach: he resembles Yamal, I've never seen anyone like him before

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Borja Jiménez, the former Leganés coach, reckons Ivorian Yan Diomandé has innate talent and is more than ready for a move to a big club. The RB Leipzig star, he says, has it all.

Jiménez, along with the player Enric Franquesa, watched Diomandé's talent explode during his time at Leganés in the 2024-2025 season.

He's no older than 19, yet Diomandé has rocketed from a player worth 1.5 million euros to one valued at around 90 million. His name is now linked with a move to Real Madrid.

"Of course Diomandé is ready to move to a big club. He proves it week after week in the German league," Jiménez told the Sport newspaper.

"Diomandé has the art of dribbling and coming away with the ball even in the most difficult situations. He is a very different kind of player, and in many respects he reminds me of the Barcelona star Lamine Yamal," he continued.

The first sight of him left a mark. "That was in a match against the reserve team during the last international break in March 2025. We gave him only 45 minutes because he was doing whatever he wanted on the pitch, and he also scored a goal," he noted.

Jiménez feared for the boy. "We were afraid he would get hurt. He had an amazing ability to constantly change direction and dribble past first-division players as if it were extremely easy. His impact was enormous and he repeated his efforts continuously, and he has great physical strength. He surprised us a lot, and I had never seen anything like it before."

Enric Franquesa, his former Leganés teammate, told the same story. "He was a player who surprised me greatly. His maturity and boldness showed from the very first day he trained with us."

Franquesa went on: "From the very first moment, we felt he was a different kind of player. What I remember most is my teammates' comments when he was promoted to the first team. Everyone started saying: this kid has to play."

His verdict was emphatic. "He will end up at one of Europe's best clubs. He has all the attributes. The hardest thing to find in football today is the ability to excel in one-on-one duels, and he has that quality. It will open the doors of any big club for him."