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Yan Diomande has officially become the most expensive African footballer in history after completing his transfer to Real Madrid.

Los Blancos will pay RB Leipzig a staggering £107 million fee for the Ivorian winger, with a further £13 million in possible add-ons included in the agreement.

Even if Real Madrid do not end up paying any of those add-ons, Diomande will still have moved for more money than any African player in the history of football.

It is the highest transfer fee the Spanish giants have ever paid for a player, going beyond the £88.5 million they paid Borussia Dortmund to sign Jude Bellingham in 2023.

It is also the second-biggest fee ever paid by any club for a teenager, behind the £165.7 million Paris Saint-Germain spent to sign Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco in 2017.

After producing 13 goals and 10 assists in 36 appearances last season, along with an outstanding display at the FIFA World Cup, Diomande attracted huge interest this summer. Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and PSG were all keen on signing the 19-year-old, but none were prepared to match Madrid’s enormous bid.

That figure is almost £50 million more than the amount Arsenal paid Lille to sign Nicolas Pepe in 2019, which had stood as the record transfer fee for an African player until this week.

If we compare the current top five list of the most expensive footballers from Africa with the version published just one year ago, plenty has changed. There are now four new names on the list, pushing out players such as Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen bettered his own £57.5 million move to Napoli in 2020 with a surprise £64.8 million transfer to Galatasaray last summer, while Cameroon’s Bryan Mbeumo joined Manchester United from Brentford for £71 million.

Ghana winger Antoine Semenyo completed a £64 million move from Bournemouth to Manchester City this January, and that deal has so far looked like money well spent.

With transfer fees continuing to rise, are European clubs now taking African players more seriously? Is the quality of talent being developed by African nations getting better? Or is this simply another consequence of inflation across the game?

5. Antoine Semenyo – Bournemouth to Manchester City, £64m

4. Victor Osimhen – Napoli to Galatasaray, £64.8m

3. Bryan Mbeumo – Brentford to Manchester United, £71m

2. Nicolas Pepe – Lille to Arsenal, £72m

1. Yan Diomande – RB Leipzig to Real Madrid, £120m

Note: Add-ons are included in transfer fees.