Quizzed on whether that pressure should be embraced, ex-Blancos star McManaman - who was speaking to ****GOAL**** courtesy of ESPN on [Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com), who will be showing Jose Mourinho’s first La Liga game back at the helm this Saturday when Real take in a trip to Espanyol - said: “I mean, Lamine's way better than him at this moment in time. I saw him 20 months ago playing at Leganes, you can't believe how he's gone from that to this - I don't think anybody can.
“But football is like that nowadays, it's just stories like that, big money for big players. We’ve mentioned style and substance before, Lamine has done that. He was 16 and he was doing it, he's 17 he's winning more, he's 18, he's 19, he's won the World Cup, I mean it's exceptional.
“There will be comparisons made but Lamine is far, far more experienced than Diomande even though they're similar ages but that's what he has to aim for, he has to aim for the consistency of Lamine Yamal.
“And also the pressure of playing for Real Madrid because you know Franco Mastantuono is a big name in Argentina, River Plate, record signing etc come to Real Madrid, wasn't experienced enough, I think wasn't old enough mentally to really take it on and improve when the team was struggling and that'll be Yan Diomande this year.
“They'll have to hit the floor running because if they have a few bad results and the crowd start getting on them, you need to be a big character to be able to control what the crowds are moaning about etc. So it'll be a test for them all and especially if your nearest and dearest rivals are excelling, that becomes even more of a test so there's lovely subplots all over the park and all over the place next year in La Liga.
“I love the fact that Barca are starting to get their act together financially off the field now, Camp Nou getting finished, more finances, buying nice players themselves, so it just elevates La Liga yet again.”