Yan Diomande, the RB Leipzig winger who made his World Cup debut for Ivory Coast, has shared a deeply personal letter addressing his late sister Roxane, revealing the grief driving him forward as Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain circle around the 19-year-old with a valuation of £100 million.

Writing for The Players' Tribune, Diomande described a career built on rejection — turned away by Bournemouth, Chelsea, Rangers, Crystal Palace, and even MLS reserve sides before earning his breakthrough. He recalled that Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze told him he was talented after a training session, yet no contract followed.

"Remember when they took me on trial at Bournemouth? At Chelsea, Rangers, Olympiacos, Crystal Palace? Eze and Olise even came up to me after one training and said, 'Yo kid, you're really good'. But they still didn't sign me," Diomande wrote.

"Even the B teams in the MLS didn't want me. My visa was up. My dream was over. They sent me back to Africa, and we cried together. You were the one who never stopped believing. A few weeks later, I signed for Leganes and we cried different tears."

From Copa del Rey to the Bundesliga's brightest

Diomande's rapid ascent began with a half-season at La Liga side Leganes, where he made his senior debut in a Copa del Rey defeat against Real Madrid in February 2025. That showing earned him a €20 million move to RB Leipzig the following summer.

At the Red Bull Arena, he thrived — scoring 12 goals and providing eight assists in 33 Bundesliga appearances. That tally made him the fourth-youngest player in history to reach double figures in a single Bundesliga campaign, and his strong start to the World Cup for Ivory Coast in Group E has only heightened interest from Europe's biggest clubs.

Grief behind the goals

The most poignant passages of his letter concern the death of his sister Roxane, who passed away last year at the age of 15 from an alleged drink spiking. Diomande described feeling emotionally hollowed out since her death.

"That was back when I used to have emotions. Now, I don't feel anything. It's like I'm not even human. Since you died, I'm just blank," he wrote.

Despite that pain, Diomande vowed to honour Roxane's memory on football's biggest stage, drawing on the belief she showed in him before he even owned proper boots.

"You always said that I could be better than Cristiano. If I see him there, I'll tell him hello for you. I'm going to do what you predicted, I swear. Before I even had real boots, you were telling everybody, 'My brother is going to be the greatest in the world'. I will prove that you were right, or I will die trying," he wrote.