Yan Diomande is on the brink of joining Real Madrid in a deal expected to reach up to €130m, a move that would make the RB Leipzig winger the most expensive African footballer in history.
Real are poised to pay a fee believed to be between €120m and €130m for the 19-year-old Ivory Coast international, whose breakthrough season in the Bundesliga and impressive World Cup campaign have placed him at the top of Europe’s transfer market.
Diomande had initially given his approval to a move to Paris Saint-Germain, but the French champions refused to meet RB Leipzig’s asking price. Real Madrid then stepped in and are now set to sign the winger, nicknamed “l’Elephant”, in a deal that will eclipse all previous transfer fees involving African players.
If the final price is confirmed at the upper end of the range, Diomande will surpass current record-holder Bryan Mbeumo, who only claimed the status of costliest African signing in 2025.
Mbeumo’s short-lived record
Manchester United made Mbeumo the most expensive African player of all time in the summer of 2025, when they agreed to pay Brentford €75m plus €6m in bonuses for the Cameroon winger.
The move, completed when Mbeumo was 25, pushed him ahead of Nicolas Pepe, whose transfer from Lille to Arsenal in 2019 had long stood as the benchmark for African transfers. Mbeumo’s reign at the top of the list, however, now looks set to be brief with Diomande’s switch to Real Madrid imminent.
Pepe and Osimhen feature prominently
Pepe’s €80m move from Lille to Arsenal in August 2019 gave him, at the time, the distinction of being the most expensive African footballer. His spell in north London, though, is widely regarded as a major disappointment, with the Ivorian unable to justify the scale of the investment.
Victor Osimhen appears twice among the costliest African transfers. The Nigeria striker occupies fourth place in the all-time African list thanks to his €78.9m move from Lille to Napoli in September 2020, completed after an outstanding season in France.
That transfer is currently the subject of an investigation by the Italian judiciary over alleged false accounting and questions surrounding potentially inflated capital gains in the deal.
Osimhen also figures further down the ranking following his permanent move to Galatasaray. After a prolific loan spell in Turkey – 37 goals and seven assists – Galatasaray agreed to pay Napoli €75m to sign him outright, setting a new record for the most expensive transfer in Turkish football history.
Big fees for Marmoush, Semenyo and Kudus
Manchester City have been significant players in the recent escalation of African transfer fees. In January 2025, they paid €75m to sign Egypt forward Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt, rewarding a spectacular six-month spell in the Bundesliga.
A year later, in January 2026, City invested again in African attacking talent, committing €72m to bring in Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth. The Ghana international had produced an outstanding first half of the season on England’s south coast, scoring 11 goals and providing three assists in just six months, convincing City to move quickly.
Mohammed Kudus has also climbed high in the historical rankings when cumulative transfer fees are taken into account. The Ghanaian attacker left Ajax for West Ham United in 2023 for €43m, then in the summer of 2025 Tottenham agreed to pay €64m for the then 24-year-old, who had registered 19 goals and 13 assists in 80 appearances for the Hammers. Those successive moves have made Kudus one of the most expensive African players ever in terms of total transfer outlay.
Mahrez and Hakimi pushed down the list
Riyad Mahrez, now at Al-Ahli, once topped the list of African transfers. His €67.8m move from Leicester City to Manchester City in July 2018 was, for a time, the highest fee paid for an African player. With the surge in transfer spending since, the Algeria winger now finds himself lower down the all-time top 10.
Achraf Hakimi’s move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 also sits among the biggest. PSG paid €68m including bonuses to sign the Morocco right-back, making him the most expensive Moroccan footballer in history. Given Hakimi’s performances since arriving in the French capital, where he has established himself as one of the world’s leading full-backs, PSG are widely viewed as having been vindicated in their decision to pay such a sum.
Diomande’s rapid rise
Diomande’s anticipated arrival at Real Madrid caps a meteoric rise for the Ivorian. In his first full season with RB Leipzig, he scored 12 goals and provided nine assists, form he carried into a strong World Cup showing that alerted Europe’s top clubs.
That combination of age, production and potential has now driven his valuation beyond every African player before him. Once his move to the Bernabeu is finalised at the expected figure, Diomande will officially become the most expensive African footballer of all time, rewriting a record that has changed hands repeatedly in recent years.
Transfer fees quoted are sourced from Transfermarkt.
