Lure of Real Madrid was too much to resist for Spainish ace

BRAHIM Diaz made it plain that he did not leave City because he wanted more minutes out on the pitch.

In fact, the Spanish wonderkid - who moved for £15.5million in the January window - made it plain that he simply could not resist the lure of the Bernabeu.

City desperately wanted him to stay and offered him a new deal but, rather than lose him for nothing at the end of his contract in summer, reluctantly agreed to the sale.

His departure was described by many as another example of Pep Guardiola’s reluctance to give youth its head coming back to bite him.

Diaz was bracketed with Jadon Sancho and Rabbi Matondo, who left for Borussia Dortmund and Schalke respectively, both on the promise of more first team minutes.

But after making his debut as a substitute in the Spanish Cup against Leganes, a week after signing, Diaz has only managed another 12 minutes of action as a sub and has not played for Madrid since January 16.

That is in contrast to the three Carabao Cup starts he made at City in the first half of the season.

That has led to the 19-year-old being called Real’s “forgotten man”, while newspaper Marca - who are close to Madrid - say he has “fallen into oblivion”.

New manager Zinedine Zidane has given him a chink of daylight by including him in the squad for the weekend win over Celta Vigo, even if the youngster remained on the bench.