Overcoming it all – Yan Diomande's tricky path to Bundesliga stardom | OneFootball

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Yan Diomande may be one of the hottest prospects in the Bundesliga and world football right now, but the road to RB Leipzig was nothing short of challenging. The Ivory Coast winger revealed it an in-house interview that all was not harmonious during his formative years.

"I was born in Abidjan, like in an area called Sicogi. I left my family to come to a village for football. My dad left and he went to France, we didn't have a good situation at home so I decided to go away to play football," Diomande said, speaking to RB Leipzig media. 

"We have a lot of passion for football there, we like football a lot. Everyone is playing on the street and it's really nice, but we don't play with this [football boots] just shoes. To play with boots you have to have money, so somebody bought them for me because I didn't have money and nor did my family," he explained. 

As the 19-year-old passed through a gallery of pictures from his childhood set up by Leipzig, he paused to look at images of his academy football team in Ivory Coast and of him proudly smiling while lifting his first trophy after he made the move to the USA, joining the DME Academy in Florida. 

"I still have the same connection [with my childhood team] we have one group chat. A lot of them are still playing football and are professionals. One plays for Sunderland, one in Belgium for Anderlecht and some play in the Ivorian league. Most of us, we stay in contact. 

"Bamba was the one who bought everything for us and was taking care of us in the academy. For everyone, not just for me, but for like 40 people. Apart from that I was living in his house during vacation, because I wasn't comfortable in my family. We didn't have money and not much space, we had a big family so I left to follow my passion.

"[Laughs at picture] That was my first day in the USA! My mum told me to send a picture and my friend took a picture for me to send to her. She was so happy. It's not easy to go away from your family, it was different. There was a lot of difference in hours, sometimes six or seven, so it was difficult but a great experience.

"I went to the USA for seven or eight months and I started learning [English] by myself on Duolingo. My roommates, they spoke English and French because they are from Senegal. I was by myself [from Ivory Coast], the ticket [to America] was too expensive and not a lot of people could do that and you needed a visa as well," he added.

Making the switch to professional football and putting pen to paper on his first contract in Spain was a confusing experience at first. Diomande revealed that his mentor from the academy club in the Ivory Coast informed him of Leganés' interest. What was to come after after signing would be the stuff young players could only dream of. 

"I didn't understand how transfers worked, so they had a contact with him [Bamba] and he told me Leganés want me to come there. I said "Why not? It's a professional team" I just said "let's go". I was really proud to be there, it was a really big opportunity for me and my family as well.

"For my first game against Real Madrid, I didn't sleep before or after [the game]. They [coaches] called me to play for the first team two days before the game to play against Madrid. I thought this was impossible.

"I finally slept [the night before the game] at 4 a.m. and at 9 a.m. then someone knocked on my door to say "you're coming to the game". My idol was Cristiano Ronaldo and I looked up to these types of players like Ronaldinho, Vini Junior [pictured, marking Diomande], Leão and Mbappé," he said. 

Diomande cut an emotional figure as he approached an image depicting him overcome with joy, celebrating his first senior goal in the professional game – a 41st-minute strike in what was a 3-2 win over RCD Espanyol. Arms outstretched, face in the direction of the powers that be above the sky; it's clear emotions were high.

"It [his first goal] was for my sister of course. I liked my sister a lot and lost my sister. Life is like this. I think of my sister a lot because today I have everything I can't share it with her. My dream was making her happy and proud, but I can't see her today," said Diomande, regarding his sister who died suddenly before he joined Leganés. 

RB Leipzig would come calling in July of 2025 and produce a €20 million offer to bring him to the Bundesliga. After a brief settling-in period, he took to life in Germany like a duck to water. With 11 goals and 8 assists in 29 games cross all competitions to date, it goes without saying that his family and sister would be immensely proud of his achievements – and there's clearly a lot more to come.