Nottingham Forest sign Ousmane Diomande from Sporting CP on four-year deal | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest have signed Ousmane Diomande from Sporting CP on a four-year deal with an option for a further year. The Ivory Coast defender is the club’s second summer arrival after Xaver Schlager joined on a free from RB Leipzig.

According to The Athletic, the fee is €40 million (£34.3m; $46.2m). The 22-year-old strengthens Oliver Glasner’s defence, the new head coach favoured a back three at Crystal Palace.

Diomande said he is delighted to join a historic club and believes they can achieve very good things this season. He pledged to give his best and looks forward to meeting team-mates, the head coach and supporters at the City Ground.

He joined Sporting in January 2023 from Midtjylland, making 132 appearances, and won the Portuguese title in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

He was in Ivory Coast’s 26-man squad for this summer’s World Cup, where they reached the round of 32 before Norway knocked them out.

Diomande is viewed as complementing Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic, who have formed an impressive centre-back pairing. Milenkovic offers leadership and aerial strength, while Murillo brings pace and ball progression.

He could add height and presence at set pieces and is comfortable on the ball. Forest felt close to completing the move during their training camp in Portugal, and although talks ran longer than expected, it feels a pivotal early step in Glasner’s tenure.

Source: NY Times

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