‘Discussions advanced’: Liverpool target could sign on dotted line imminently after BBC update | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest are reportedly ‘advancing’ their interest in Ousmane Diomande this summer.

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BBC reporter Sami Mokbel notes on X (formerly Twitter) that the Tricky Trees are in ‘advanced’ discussions to sign the centre-back.

Liverpool were thought to have the Sporting Lisbon defender on their shortlist; however, it seems that the Reds are prepared to let their Premier League rivals take the lead on this story.

Nottingham Forest closing in on Ousmane Diomande

A week prior, Fabrizio Romano had reported that Forest were confident they could secure a cut-price fee (roughly a £34m package) for Diomande.

And now it appears that both clubs are closing in on a full agreement for the 22-year-old centre-half.

It still remains to be seen whether Oliver Glasner’s men will get their man below the £68.2m release clause, but it seems that Forest are confident of doing so.

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Centre-back options are dropping like flies for Liverpool

We appreciate that it might simply be the case that Liverpool are content to let their rivals snap up some of the best centre-back talent on the market due to a lack of serious interest on our part.

But we’re struggling to attach any kind of serious belief to the idea that the Reds didn’t have any interest in the likes of Luka Vuskovic (Brighton), Maxence Lacroix (Chelsea-bound) or John Stones (Inter Milan-bound).

The most logical explanation is that we’re waiting to see what happens with the Bradley Barcola talks and, more specifically, just how much a potential deal would chew into our budget.

Nonetheless, it’s disheartening to witness such deals going on in the background when it’s plain for all to see how stretched our defensive options are. Even more so now with Joe Gomez already picking up an issue in pre-season.

We can only hope that Liverpool aren’t leaving it too late in the window to address their mounting squad concerns.

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