Three goals and an assist in his last four La Liga games: Ivorian winger Yan Diomande (19) is making his mark at Real Madrid, where Jorge Valdano is arguing for him to start regularly, at Vinicius Junior’s expense.
At Real Madrid, Yan Diomande’s playing time is no longer going unnoticed. The 19-year-old Ivorian winger has scored three goals and provided one assist in his last four La Liga games, according to detikSport. A run that contrasts with the previous seven matches, without a goal and with just one assist.
According to daily Marca, relayed by detikSport, Jorge Valdano, a former Real Madrid player, coach and sporting director, believes the 19-year-old Ivorian deserves a run of starts. A stance that puts pressure on Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward.
Seven starts, seven wins
Football365’s figures show the scale of the breakthrough. Real Madrid have won each of the seven games in which club coach José Mourinho has started Diomande, who has been directly involved in six goals since the international break: three goals and three assists.
His last three goals, against Sevilla, Leipzig and Santander, were scored with his right foot from the left side. The latest flew in at 120.2 km/h from 19 metres, again according to Football365.
Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid’s English midfielder, said he was surprised by his team-mate’s striking power: “It’s unbelievable. I didn’t know he could strike like that, or like against Leipzig. He’s a special player.”
Valdano takes aim at Vinicius
Valdano’s advocacy is not limited to praise. He, who was coach and then sporting director (2000-2009) and CEO (2009-2011) of the club, according to detikSport, describes a player who is stepping up: “Diomande is starting to gain confidence and that’s good news for Real Madrid. At first, he was still shy.”
His conclusion clearly targets the Brazilian, quoted by detikSport via Marca: “His performances are bad news for Vinicius, who has to fight to win back a place that Diomande has taken from him.”
Vinicius Junior is indeed going through a trickier spell: he recently served a La Liga suspension and has only one goal in eight league games, detikSport reports.