Ole Werner admits surprise at Diomande’s rapid development | OneFootball

Yan Diomande registered 19 direct goal contributions in his debut Bundesliga season. The RB Leipzig winger is one of the highly coveted youngsters in European football, and he revealed that he's motivated by that to do better.

“Yan (Diomande) is a really important player for us,” said Ole Werner in an interview with Bundesliga. “He’s an excellent player who everyone here enjoys working with. And we’d like to continue working with him.

“It’s also clear there will be interest in a player like him. If the coach could decide, then, of course, Yan would be playing here next year. It’s good he’s got a contract. I think he feels very comfortable here with us.”

After not playing in Europe this term, RB Leipzig will be back in the premium competition for the 2026/27 season. Werner sees the qualification for the Champions League as one of the factors to keep the Ivorian at the club.

“Given we’ll be playing in the Champions League next season, he can continue to develop here. The summer will show how things progress, but we’ll all be happy if he stays here,” commented the 38-year-old.

The Lower Saxony club is known for developing talents before selling them for huge profits after one or two seasons. “Our objective is that we don’t have the sort of upheaval we had last summer,” Werner stresses, referring to the departures of Benjamin Šeško, Xavi Simons, and Loïs Openda before his first official game as a Leipzig coach.

“It’s important that we don’t start again from scratch next season. We’ve developed a framework this season that can carry us. We’ve got some amazing young players and want to keep developing them.”

Back to Diomande, Werner didn’t hide his surprise at how the 19-year-old exceeded expectations. “Yes, I was surprised that he managed to play at this level so consistently,” Werner said when he was asked if the youngster’s rapid development surprised him.

“When we looked at him last summer, we had an idea he was an excellent talent. The question was how quickly someone can perform like that consistently. And the consistency he’s shown has been extraordinary for his age, and the fact that it’s his first full year in professional football.”

RB Leipzig paid Diomande’s €20 million release clause set by Leganés for the player who has only featured ten times for the first team. Multiple reports suggest he could now move to one of the top European clubs this summer for an excess of €100 million.