Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of Ivory Coast international defender Ousmane Diomande from Portuguese side Sporting. The 22-year-old has signed a four-year contract, with Forest holding the option of a further year, in a deal reported to be worth £34.3 million, which is around €40 million.
The move follows weeks of negotiation between the two clubs and comes shortly after Forest’s earlier summer signing of Austria midfielder Xaver Schlager on a free transfer.
Slotting into Glasner’s Back Three
New Forest head coach Oliver Glasner favours a 3-5-2 formation and Diomande is expected to partner Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo at the heart of defence. The centre-back joined Sporting from Danish club FC Midtjylland in the January of 2023, after starting his career at Olympic Sport Abobo in Ivory Coast. He went on to make 132 appearances for the Lisbon club, scoring seven goals, and helped them win back-to-back Primeira Liga titles and reach last season’s Champions League quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by Arsenal.
Diomande also won a major honour with his country when he was part of the Ivory Coast squad that lifted the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, ending an eight-year wait for the trophy. He has 15 caps for Ivory Coast and made one appearance at this summer’s World Cup, in the group-stage win over Curacao.
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On completing the move, Diomande said: “I am very happy to be here. It is a historic club, and it motivates me to join such a club.” He added, “I will give my best and all I can to help the team. I cannot wait to meet the supporters at the City Ground and together we can have a good season.”
Chief Football Officer George Syrianos said the club had been ‘very clear on the profile of player ’it wanted to add, describing Diomande as ‘a powerful, commanding defender ’who ‘arrives here with a winning mentality.’
Sky Sports reports that Glasner drove Forest’s interest in Diomande, having tried to sign the defender during his time at Crystal Palace. It could be argued that the deal owes as much to the head coach’s personal conviction as to a settled recruitment plan, particularly given that Forest’s defence already included senior options in Milenkovic and Murillo.
Diomande will hope to make an early mark as Forest look to build a squad capable of matching last season’s progress under their new head coach.