"If Real Madrid are coming, it’s difficult" – Marcel Schäfer explains why RB Leipzig had to sell Yan Diomande | OneFootball

LEIPZIG (Bulinews): When interest in Yan Diomande first started to emerge towards the end of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season, RB Leipzig repeatedly made it clear that they had no intention of selling the 19-year-old.

However, as the summer window progressed, a transfer looked increasingly likely, and the winger ultimately completed a record-breaking move to Real Madrid, with reports putting the guaranteed fee at €125 million and the total package at as much as €140 million with potential bonuses.

At a media roundtable in Leipzig, Bulinews.com asked RB Leipzig managing director for sport Marcel Schäfer about the reasons behind Diomande’s departure after just one season at the club.

One major factor, unsurprisingly, was the amount of money that Real Madrid were willing to put on the table for the Côte d’Ivoire international.

“So, 100 percent, the intention was not to sell Yan Diomande. Why should we do that? But we are a club, and we need transfer revenues. It’s not like, ‘maybe it would be good or nice.’ It’s something we need. It was a significant number," Schäfer told Bulinews.com, pointing out that RB Leipzig “need to sell players every single summer.”

“This was a must for us economically,” he underlined. 

An outstanding story

For Schäfer, there was also a sense of satisfaction in selling Diomande for a record-breaking fee well above the €100 million mark, just one year after Die Roten Bullen took a chance on the youngster and paid €20 million to sign him from CD Leganés, where he had only just made his first steps in La Liga.

“Sporting-wise, of course, we would have loved to keep him, but on the other hand, we need to create win-win situations and write successful stories. And this was an outstanding story," Schäfer explained, adding: 

"When we signed the player a year earlier for €20 million, everyone asked me if I had any issues with calculating or estimating the fee for a player with 10 games in La Liga. 

"It’s a good example that you don’t invest in what a player has already shown, but in the potential. We were the only club putting such a high number on the table. It was way higher than his market value, but the potential was outstanding for us.”   

“If Real Madrid are coming, it's difficult”

At the same time, Schäfer and RB Leipzig also had to take into consideration that Diomande really wanted the move to Real Madrid.

“Of course, it’s our intention to keep a player for at least two years. But I was a former player too, and I had so many conversations, was in so many locker rooms and teams. If Real Madrid are coming, it’s difficult," Schäfer admitted. 

“If you look at it from the player’s perspective, if you block his life dream, I think it could be difficult. So you have the sporting side and the economic part, which we always need to consider too. It was the best sale we’ve ever done, and not just by 10 percent, but by far."

Before Diomande’s departure, Josko Gvardiol’s move to Manchester City for a reported €90 million in 2023 was RB Leipzig’s most expensive sale.

So far, Diomande has made seven appearances for Real Madrid since his move, registering one assist.