Real Madrid have signed Côte d’Ivoire international Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig for a fee worth up to £120m, BBC Sport reports.
Diomande is now the most expensive African player, surpassing the £72m Arsenal paid Lille for fellow Côte d’Ivoire international Nicolas Pepe in 2019.
The 19-year-old winger has signed a seven-year contract and his price tag could surpass the £115m (133.9m euros) Real agreed to pay Borussia Dortmund for Jude Bellingham in June 2023.
Paris St-Germain had been frontrunners for the teenager but the Champions League winners pulled out of a potential move on Sunday after a £102.5m bid was rejected.
Also Read: Diomande: I Won’t Force RB Leipzig To Sell Me
If Real end up paying the full £120m for Diomande he would become the fourth most expensive player in history, behind PSG’s Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and Liverpool’s former Newcastle striker Alexander Isak.
Diomande was previously a target for Liverpool, who had an initial bid of £69m rejected in June, as they search for a replacement for Mohamed Salah, who joined Turkish club Trabzonspor on Thursday.
Diomande is Real’s sixth summer signing under new head coach Jose Mourinho, joining Bernardo Silva, Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries, Marc Cucurella and Carlos Espi.
He was named the Bundesliga’s Young Player of the Season for 2025-26, having scored 12 goals and registered eight assists in the competition.
He appeared in all four of Côte d’Ivoire’s World Cup games as they were eliminated in the round of 32 by Norway.
Diomande moved from his native Côte d’Ivoire to an academy in the United States before joining Spanish side Leganes in 2025 and then Leipzig later that year.
