Real Madrid have drawn up a special plan to shield Yan Diomande from a bitter nightmare, according to a Spanish press report on Thursday.
The 19-year-old is the most expensive signing in Real Madrid's history. The club paid 125 million euros to Leipzig, a figure that could rise to 140 million euros depending on how many performance-related targets the player hits.
Yet oddly enough, the Ivorian has not started a single match for Real Madrid so far. He has played, yes, but always off the bench in the closing stages.
The explanation from Real Madrid, and Mourinho in particular, is the need to handle Diomande with caution. There is a specific plan for him, and nobody at the club will stray from it.
Mourinho himself spelled it out before the Inter match: they would bring Diomande along gradually, he had joined the team late, and his time would come.
For its part, the newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" said many detect in Real Madrid's plan the shadow of what happened with Mastantuono last summer. The Argentine arrived from River Plate for 63.2 million euros. At 18, he signed for Real Madrid as a promising star with a bright future.
Nobody gave Mastantuono enough time to adapt. There was no plan beyond starting him straight away under Xabi Alonso. Not in one match, but in several, and the Argentine buckled under the huge expectations the Real Madrid hierarchy had heaped on him.
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Bit by bit, Mastantuono vanished from the starting line-up and became a substitute. Worse still, this summer he went on loan to Fiorentina.
Given that history, it is easy to see why Real Madrid are treating Diomande so cautiously, unwilling to gamble on a 125 million euro signing, the most expensive in the club's history.