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"He will surprise everyone": a striking testimony reveals Diomande's exceptional abilities

  Real Madrid completed the signing of Yan Diomande this summer, the most expensive deal in the club's history. They paid Leipzig 125 million euros.

 Still only nineteen, the Ivorian already boasts every quality and attribute of a seasoned professional.

 Borja Jimenez, who coached him at Leganes, said: "He will surprise everyone."

Speaking to the newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", he added: "He is a player not many people know, they have only seen short clips of him, but I think he will surprise a lot of people with his daring."

He went on: "He is a player who changes the course of the match, you cannot tell whether he is using his right foot or his left when he has the ball," a rare trait in modern football.

The manager was in no doubt about his gifts: "He will bring a great deal of directness and outstanding skill in individual dribbling."

He continued: "He has the ability to stop, meaning to bring the ball to a complete halt and wait for the opponent to make a challenge, then he pulls off a dribble."

 Jimenez then recounted a story from the player's days with the Leganes reserve team: "After 15 or 20 minutes of training, he had already shown us... I did not understand what this player was doing in the reserve team."

His verdict was emphatic: "His level was so high that they decided to take him off the pitch to prevent anything untoward from happening and to avoid injuring him."

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