Nottingham Forest Close to Signing Ousmane Diomande
Nottingham Forest have dragged the Ousmane Diomande deal back from the brink – and this time, it looks like they intend to finish the job.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Forest are “moving to final stages” in negotiations with Sporting over a €40m (£34.2m) transfer, with all parties confident of getting it over the line after weeks of stalling. For a while, the move looked dead. Now it’s back on and gathering pace.
Forest close in on Diomande
For a club fighting to establish itself as a stable Premier League presence, Forest moving decisively for a 22-year-old centre-back of Diomande’s profile is a statement. The Ivorian has long been viewed as one of the most promising defenders in the Primeira Liga, and at under £35m, the fee sits in that sweet spot between serious investment and calculated risk.
What raised eyebrows was the earlier suggestion that Forest had cooled their interest, apparently stepping away just as the price and opportunity aligned. That hesitation briefly opened the door for others, with Liverpool mentioned as a potential beneficiary of the collapse.
Now that Forest are back at the table and close to an agreement, that door is slamming shut.
Liverpool’s defensive dilemma
For Liverpool, Diomande’s impending move to the City Ground sharpens the focus on their own unresolved business at the back.
The need has been obvious for months: a right-back and a centre-back, both capable of stepping straight into Andoni Iraola’s high-intensity system. Yet the club have drifted into the latter stages of the window still short in both areas, while juggling other priorities such as the protracted pursuit of Bradley Barcola, with PSG holding out for a huge fee.
Against that backdrop, Diomande looked like the kind of opportunity a smart recruitment team might pounce on – young, affordable, and available. Instead, Liverpool’s attention has turned back towards a more familiar name: Ronald Araujo.
The Barcelona defender, long admired at Anfield, has emerged again as a possible short-term fix, with a season-long loan under discussion and no obligation to buy. For a club wary of draining what’s left of its budget, that structure carries obvious appeal.
Araujo vs Diomande: numbers and nuance
On raw numbers, the comparison between the two defenders is revealing.
Per 90 minutes last season, Diomande averaged 68.77 successful passes with a 93.1% completion rate, slightly ahead of Araujo’s 65.4 successful passes and 92% accuracy. On the ball, the Sporting man holds his own.
The picture changes when the game becomes a fight.
Diomande won 48.6% of his duels and 57.4% of his aerial battles. Araujo, operating in La Liga, posted a 63% success rate in duels and 67.2% in the air. He was also dribbled past just 0.08 times per 90, compared to Diomande’s 0.35.
Those are not marginal differences. They point to a defender who relishes contact, dominates his zone, and has already proved himself in a higher-calibre league. For a Liverpool side that has looked vulnerable under pressure, those attributes matter more than an extra completed pass or two.
From Iraola’s perspective, Araujo offers something close to plug-and-play reliability. Diomande, for all his upside, still carries the uncertainty that comes with stepping up from the Portuguese top flight to the Premier League.
Different paths, same urgency
Forest, with less margin for error but also less expectation of instant perfection, can afford to lean into Diomande’s potential and live with the growing pains. If he adapts quickly, they have a long-term pillar at the heart of their defence at a price that could look cheap in two years’ time.
Liverpool’s calculation is colder. They need certainty now. Araujo, if they can close a loan deal, gives them a battle-tested defender who can cover both centre-back and right-back, ease the strain on a stretched backline, and do it without swallowing what remains of the transfer kitty.
Diomande may yet grow into the kind of player Liverpool look back on with a twinge of regret. For the moment, though, his future lies on the banks of the Trent, not the Mersey – and Liverpool’s season may hinge on whether Araujo’s arrival turns out to be a stopgap, or the shrewdest move they make all summer.
