Nottingham Forest in advanced talks to sign Ousmane Diomande from Sporting CP | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest are in advanced negotiations with Sporting CP to sign defender Ousmane Diomande.

According to NY Times, the 22-year-old Ivory Coast international, a World Cup team-mate of Ibrahim Sangare, had been linked with Crystal Palace under Glasner and could now work with him at the City Ground.

Glasner, the driving force behind the move for midfielder Xaver Schlager, whom he managed at Wolfsburg, favours a back three. Diomande is viewed as an ideal option on the right of that unit and as a young player who could grow with regular Premier League minutes.

Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic have formed one of the most solid partnerships in the top flight in recent years, helping Matz Sels share the Golden Glove with Arsenal’s David Raya in 2024-2025.

At Palace, Glasner largely used a 3-4-2-1 and wants the personnel to replicate that pattern. Brazilian Morato plus youngsters Jair Cunha, Zach Abbott and Tyler Bindon are the other centre-back options.

Diomande came through Midtjylland’s academy and has 15 caps. His form at Sporting earned a new deal in January, running until 2030.

Forest, who have been in talks with Tottenham over midfielder Lucas Bergvall, are hopeful of signing Diomande, possibly before the end of their pre-season camp in Portugal, which begins with a game against Blackburn on Wednesday.

Source: NY Times