Yan Diomande has played fewer than 90 minutes of La Liga football since joining Real Madrid this summer, always from the bench and never for long. Tuesday night is unlikely to look like that.
Guler, Eduardo Camavinga and Bernardo Silva are all suspended for the Bernabéu opener against Inter Milan, an enforced reshuffle that is the closest thing to an invitation the 19-year-old Ivorian has had to force his way into a Mourinho starting XI. The 4-0 win over Malaga in late August aside, the coach has resisted the pressure to unveil his most expensive purchase.
“He has to take things step by step. He played 20, 15 or 30 minutes in the three matches. He is hard-working and humble, he wants to learn and develop, and he listens to me and to his team-mates. He will certainly improve,” Mourinho told reporters after the Malaga game on 30 August.
The reported €140m fee has become the running joke of Mourinho’s early tenure. He pretended not to know the number at that same press conference.
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“A hundred and something? 120 or 130, I don’t know how much we paid?” the coach asked the press officer, twice, as reporters laughed.
Three midfielders, one shared reason
The suspensions are UEFA hangovers from last season. Guler and Camavinga were each shown a second yellow card in the quarter-final second leg away to Bayern Munich, Guler for protesting to the referee after the final whistle. UEFA carries red-card bans across seasons even when the yellow-card slate is wiped, and both midfielders draw the one-match punishment on Tuesday.
Bernardo Silva’s ban is the odd one out. He was dismissed for deliberate handball while playing FOR Manchester City against Real Madrid in the round of 16 last season, and the suspension has followed him across the change of club after he joined the Bernabéu on a free transfer.
What Diomande would bring
Diomande is a left-footed winger who typically plays from the right and was Real Madrid’s answer to competition from PSG and Liverpool for his signature. He scored 12 Bundesliga goals and provided eight assists at RB Leipzig last season, and arrived on a seven-year contract until 30 June 2033.
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The €140m package, reportedly €125m guaranteed and up to €15m more in bonuses, made him the most expensive African player in history and Real Madrid’s club-record signing by guaranteed fee.
Mourinho has kept the expectation dial firmly on low. He told Madrid Universal earlier in the international break that a fee of that size normally arrives with a player “who blows everyone up”, and added: “That’s not the case.”
Tuesday at the Bernabéu
Real Madrid vs Inter Milan kicks off at 9pm local time on Tuesday, 8 September at the Santiago Bernabéu. Both clubs open their 2026/27 Champions League league phase in Madrid.
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