Liverpool tipped to hijack Nottingham Forest to sign £34m star after deal was nearly done this week | OneFootball

Liverpool could reportedly make a move to hijack Nottingham Forest in the race to sign Sporting Lisbon star Ousmane Diomande.

Forest have identified Diomande as a leading target for this summer’s transfer window, and this would be a statement signing becuase he has previously been linked with several Premier League and European giants.

At the end of July, a report from BBC Sport revealed that Forest were ‘close to completing’ a deal with Sporting Lisbon to sign Diomande, but they have encountered issues in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, a report from Portuguese outlet A Bola claimed Forest had made progress and that a deal for Diomande was ‘practically finalised’.

However, a different report on Thursday claimed that a deal had collapsed, while A Bola’s update on Friday acknowledged that there are issues between Forest and Sporting Lisbon regarding Diomande.

The outlet explained: ‘According to information gathered by A Bola, disagreements over the payment terms from the English club to the Alvalade club were the cause of the stalled negotiation round. The outcome is, for now, feared, it is true, but the possibility of still reaching an agreement exists.

‘Sporting aims for a fixed fee of no less than €40m, with bonuses that could inflate the deal to €45m and the right to a percentage of the capital gain in a future sale. According to A Bola, this amount was agreed upon, and the payment schedule is at the heart of the falling out between the two clubs.’

Therefore, it is clear that there is work to do if Forest are to sign Diomande, and Liverpool have now been tipped to sign him.

So far this summer, Liverpool have only signed Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz, and it is being widely reported that they are currently focused on strengthening their attack with PSG pair Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye.

Liverpool could hijack Nottingham Forest to sign Ousmane Diomande

But Liverpool arguably also need defensive reinforcements because they are short of options at centre-back due to injury, while they are also weak at full-back.

It remains to be seen whether Liverpool will actually sign a new defender, but reporter Sebastien Vidal suspects they could sign Diomande.

Vidal said on X: ‘Liverpool could benefit from the failure of negotiations between Nottingham Forest and Sporting for Ousmane Diomande.

‘The 22-year-old Ivorian defender, valued at around €40M, remains available and has long been on the Reds’ radar, as they look to bolster their central defense.’