Nottingham Forest Sign Ousmane Diomande for £34.3m
Nottingham Forest have made their biggest defensive move of the summer, sealing the signing of Ivory Coast centre-back Ousmane Diomande from Sporting on a four-year deal.
The fee is around £34.3m (€40m) for the 22-year-old, a price that underlines both Forest’s intent and the scale of the defender’s rise over the last few seasons. This is not a project signing. This is a ready-made piece for the heart of Oliver Glasner’s team.
Glasner finally gets his man
Glasner has driven this move from the start. He pushed hard for Diomande during his time at Crystal Palace and has now convinced Forest’s hierarchy to go all-in after weeks of negotiations.
Forest have been clear about the type of player they wanted at the back: young, athletic, already hardened by big games. Diomande ticks every box.
He arrives from Sporting after four seasons in Lisbon, where he played 132 times, scored seven goals and won the Primeira Liga twice. He didn’t just collect medals. He carried responsibility.
Last season he helped Sporting to a domestic double and into the Champions League knockout stages, handling the pressure of European nights that many defenders don’t see until their late 20s.
A winner from club and country
Diomande’s CV at 22 is already stacked.
He was part of the Ivory Coast squad that lifted the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, ending an eight-year wait for the Elephants. He has 15 caps for his country and featured at this summer’s World Cup, a marker of how quickly he has climbed through the international ranks.
That blend of league titles, Champions League knockout football and major tournament experience is exactly what Forest have been missing at centre-back: someone who has already lived through high-stakes football rather than simply promising to cope with it.
Chief football officer George Syrianos made that point clear.
“We have been very clear on the profile of player we want to add to the squad, so we are excited to welcome Ousmane to the club,” he said. “He has fantastic experience for a defender of his age. Playing a crucial role in title-winning teams and going into the latter stages of the Champions League puts him in a great position to integrate well here at Forest.
“Ousmane is a powerful, commanding defender, and arrives here with a winning mentality. He shares the same ambition for success we have, and we are excited to see the impact he can have in a Forest shirt.”
Diomande’s first words: “It is a historic club”
Diomande himself wasted no time framing the move as a step into something bigger.
“I am very happy to be here. It is a historic club, and it motivates me to join such a club,” he said. “I believe we can achieve very good things this season and I am looking forward to meeting the players and head coach.
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.”
The message is simple: he has not come to ease his way into English football. He has come to lead.
Forest’s rebuild: one star in, one star out
Diomande’s arrival slots into a busy and ambitious summer at the City Ground.
Forest’s incoming business has mixed big spending with opportunism:
- Ousmane Diomande – Sporting, £34.3m
- Boyd Fraser – Hearts, undisclosed
- Mason Ayre – Glentoran, undisclosed
- Blaine McClure – Rangers, undisclosed
- Xaver Schlager – RB Leipzig, free
- Grady McDonnell – Club Brugge, free
- Kasen Brown – Man City, free
At the same time, there has been a major departure. Elliot Anderson has joined Manchester City in a deal worth £116m, a sale that reshapes Forest’s balance sheet and underpins moves like Diomande’s.
Other exits include David Carmo to Olympiacos and a string of free transfers and loans as the squad is trimmed:
- David Carmo – Olympiacos, undisclosed
- Joe Gardner – Falkirk, undisclosed
- Cormac Daly – Hearts, free
- Angus Gunn – San Jose Earthquakes, free
- Ben Hammong – Boston United, free
- Justin Hanks – Solihull Moors, free
- Danny Anisjko – Chesterfield, free
- Jota Silva – Olympiacos, loan
- Willy Boly – released
- Stefan Ortega – released
- Shae Cahill – released
- Esapa Osong – released
The pattern is clear: cash in heavily on one major asset, reshape the spine with younger, hungry players, and hand Glasner a group that can play his aggressive, front-foot football.
Diomande, powerful and commanding, sits right at the centre of that plan. Now the question is not whether he is ready for Forest.
It is whether the Premier League is ready for him.
