Premier League duo Newcastle United and Leicester City are reportedly battling Scottish champions Celtic to sign French winger Stephane Diarra.
Le Mans president Thierry Gomez has admitted that he is proud to see clubs like Celtic, Newcastle United and Leicester City taking an interest in highly-rated winger Stephane Diarra, speaking to Ouest France.
L’Equipe broke the news on Tuesday that a jet-heeled 20-year-old is turning heads across the channel.
Premier League duo Newcastle and Leicester have been sending scouts to the French second tier to watch Diarra rip full-backs to shreds while Scottish champions Celtic have apparently kept a keen eye on the fresh-faced Frenchman for a number of years already.
With Le Mans hoping to avoid relegation from Ligue 2 this season, Les Mucistes would obviously rather avoid losing one of their most impressive performers in January. But president Gomez is still seeing the positives as speculation swirls.
“We will have to get used to the rumours,” he said. “After that, I’m not unhappy that some of our players are of interest to clubs. This is proof that we are doing well.”
His definition of ‘doing well’ is obviously quite a broad one.
Diarra has been one of the few positives in a difficult season for Le Mans, producing three goals and two assists from his favoured role on the right-hand side of midfield.
A move to Celtic would perhaps represent a sensible stepping stone for Diarra, considering how quickly the fellow Frenchmen Odsonne Edouard and Moussa Dembele progressed in Glasgow.
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