Arsenal have reportedly enquired about Sporting Lisbon’s talented defender Ousmane Diomande and have been told the fee that it would take to lure the defender to the Emirates.
According to the report from Record, The Gunners are interested in the Ivorian defender who had his breakout season Last season in Portugal and it now seems Europe’s top clubs are circling for his signature.
The report states that despite Arsenal’s interest, Sporting had previously insisted that Arsenal must pay the release clause for the 19-year-old in full otherwise the defender will remain in Portugal.
The release clause is believed to be in the region of £70 million which, for a defender who only made his senior debut last season, is very steep. The report from Record states that Diomande is currently ‘agitating the market’ and that once again Arsenal have made an enquiry for the defender.
It was reported a few weeks back by the same newspaper that Juventus and indeed the Gunners had made an approach for the Ivorian defender.
‘Tempting offers’ could force Sporting’s hand
Despite Sporting’s apparent insistence a few weeks ago that the full release clause would have to be paid to lure the talented defender, the Portuguese report from Record states that Sporting could be ‘tempted’ to accept less.
The report doesn’t state why Sporting would all of a sudden be open to selling for slightly lower than his release clause. You’d suspect if a team were to offer £50-60 million for the 19-year-old, Sporting would consider it perhaps due to the financial might that Arsenal or indeed any European heavyweight have.
Interestingly, according to FBREF, the player with the most similar attributes to Diomande is Arsenal’s new signing Jurrien Timber.
Diomande has superb technical quality and is the type of modern defender that any big European side would look for, but due to the Gunners only recently completing the signing of Timber, the deal seems unlikely at this stage.
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