Jose Mourinho faces £120m Yan Diomande dilemma at Real Madrid

Yan Diomande's preferred position is occupied by Vinicius Junior and his alternative route into Real Madrid's XI is already crowded, but Herve Renard believes patience is required with Jose Mourinho's £120m summer signing - whose Leipzig numbers may also point towards a solution.

Diomande's first months at the Bernabeu have illustrated the difficulty of breaking into arguably the most competitive attacking unit in European football.

Real Madrid committed €125m (£108m) plus a potential €15m (£13m) in add-ons to sign the 19-year-old from RB Leipzig, tying him down until 2033.

However, starts have remained difficult to obtain under Mourinho. Sports Mole had already examined his limited role after he accumulated just 83 minutes without a start during the opening weeks of the season.

Ivory Coast boss Renard, who has worked with Diomande during the recent international break, believes the problem begins with where the winger is naturally most comfortable.

"It's no secret that his preferred position is on the left wing," Renard told french journalist Alexandre Ruiz.

"At Real Madrid, on the left there is Vinicius; on the right, Guler and Diaz; and up front, Kylian Mbappe and Bellingham slightly behind. That sums up the situation."

The equation is awkward: Diomande's favoured zone belongs to Vinicius, while moving across the pitch merely places him into another selection battle.

Vinicius blocks Diomande's natural route into Real Madrid XI

Mourinho has already attempted to solve that problem by using the Ivorian predominantly from the right.

Diomande's first Real Madrid start came in that position against Rayo Vallecano in September, although his relatively quiet display was followed by a more influential contribution from Arda Guler off the bench.

The teenager subsequently responded with his first Madrid assist on his second La Liga start against Elche and also made an encouraging substitute appearance against Atletico Madrid before the international break.

That performance against Elche represented his most convincing contribution in a Real Madrid shirt to that point, providing tangible evidence that his adaptation was beginning to progress.

Renard nevertheless believes expectations need to be placed in context.

Diomande joined Madrid after representing Ivory Coast at the World Cup and has entered an attacking hierarchy containing established stars rather than arriving with an automatic starting position.

"He needs to be given a little time," Renard added. "The talent is there."

The issue for Mourinho is not finding evidence of that talent but finding sufficient minutes to develop it.

Vinicius remains the obvious left-wing option, while Guler and Brahim Diaz both offer established alternatives from the opposite flank.

That would appear to leave Diomande without an obvious route into Madrid's strongest XI.

His performances before arriving in Spain, however, suggest that the answer may not necessarily involve displacing Vinicius.

Do Diomande's Leipzig numbers point Mourinho towards the right?

Although Renard identifies the left as Diomande's natural position, the winger was substantially more productive when operating from the opposite side during his breakthrough campaign at Leipzig.

Diomande produced 12 goals and six assists in 22 appearances from the right, compared with three assists in 10 matches when deployed on the left.

His overall Bundesliga return was 12 goals and eight assists in 33 appearances, form which ultimately persuaded Madrid to make him their record signing.

Those numbers complicate the positional debate.

Diomande may feel most natural receiving the ball from the left, where he can isolate defenders and attack space, but his Leipzig output suggests that Mourinho does not necessarily need to move Vinicius to unlock his expensive new arrival.

There has also been recent evidence at international level.

Renard shifted Diomande to the right late in Ivory Coast's win over Somalia, and the winger immediately became involved in two decisive attacks - supplying the cross which led to one goal before striking the post in the move which produced another.

Five of Diomande's seven league appearances for Madrid have now also come from the right. The difficulty is that solving one positional blockage creates another.

Guler offers Mourinho creativity and combination play from that flank, while Brahim provides another technically accomplished option. Diomande instead gives Madrid more direct running, one-on-one threat and genuine width.

That makes the decision less about identifying the teenager's "correct" position and more about determining which qualities Mourinho needs in a particular game.

Renard is encouraged by how Diomande is handling that uncertainty. Diomande himself recently acknowledged his limited minutes while insisting that he continues to train hard and maintain the same approach.

"I think he is approaching the situation in the right way," the Ivory Coast coach said. "I see him being positive. With that mindset, you can go very far."

For a £120m investment, patience will inevitably be difficult to maintain indefinitely.

But Madrid's dilemma may also contain its own solution: Diomande's favourite position is blocked, yet the numbers which earned him his move to the Bernabeu suggest he may not need it to succeed.