Marti Cifuentes cautious on January Sweden moves amid Ibrahim Diabate to Leicester City link | OneFootball

Marti Cifuentes has signalled caution over January signings from Sweden amid Leicester City links to Ibrahim Diabate. He suggested winter arrivals from the Allsvenskan may need time to adapt.

Diabate scored 18 goals in 2025 to finish joint top scorer, level with August Priske, who joined Birmingham City from Djurgardens this week. Aftonbladet reports that City have been in talks with GAIS over a permanent or loan-to-buy move.

Cifuentes declined to discuss specific cases and said there will be plenty of speculation with around 12 days of the window remaining.

Having spent two seasons at Hammarby, he noted January can be tricky, with Championship adaptation required and Scandinavian players arriving after about one and a half months off. Sweden plays through the summer, finishing in November, and GAIS begin 2026 pre-season this weekend. Diabate has therefore been on holiday for two months.

The Ivorian started his European career at Real Mallorca, featured for their B team, then moved to Sweden. GAIS signed him on a free roughly a year ago and, at 26, he had a breakout year.

City have prioritised a striker this month. It had appeared Michail Antonio would arrive, but the free agent suffered an injury while training at Seagrave.

Source: LeicesterMercury.co.uk