Nottingham Forest are closing in on the signing of Sporting CP defender Ousmane Diomande.
The centre-back is fresh off the back of the World Cup with Ivory Coast, where he played in one of the four matches his country played.
Diomande is checking in at Forest after three years with Sporting CP and having helped the Portuguese outfit to the Champions League quarter-final last season.
A winning start for Glasner.. which three Forest players impressed you most vs Blackburn? 👏
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The 22-year-old boasts 132 appearances for Sporting CP, and his experience could prove vital for Forest under Oliver Glasner.
Diomande will be linking up with Ibrahim Sangare at Forest, and it would appear the pair have a very good working relationship.
How Ousmane Diomande and Ibrahim Sangare have performed together
The Ivory Coast reached the last 32 of the World Cup in the United States before losing to Norway, with Sangare proving integral.
Although Diomande wasn’t considered first choice at the tournament, there have been 10 occasions when the pair have played alongside each other, and it bodes well for Forest.
Interestingly for Forest fans, the pair have only been on the losing side together once back in 2024 when the Ivory Coast went down 1-0 in the Group Stages of the African Cup of Nations.
The other nine matches have finished in seven victories and two draws, with Diomande likely to be eyeing more minutes for the national team should he shine at Forest.
Where would Nottingham Forest finish in the Premier League with a back three of Murillo, Diomande and Milenkovic?
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Sangare’s presence in the Forest dressing room will almost certainly help Diomande settle into life at the City Ground and that can only be a good thing.
Diomande can be quality under Oliver Glasner
The beauty of Diomande clearly being a Glasner signing is that the Forest head coach will have a clear plan in place for him.
Glasner wants to play with three central defenders, it would seem, and once Murillo is fit, we could see him play alongside Diomande and Nikola Milenkovic for Forest.
Forest might be hitting the jackpot with this signing, and it’s ideal that Sangare is around to help him settle into his new surroundings.
This feels like a very sensible piece of business and perhaps a number of bigger clubs will be looking at Forest with a bit of an envy about this addition.
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