‘Special focus on Chelsea’ – Club looking to buy in cover as transfer ‘almost certain’ with Blues hovering

Chelsea are now pushed as one of the strongest destinations for Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande.

As newspaper O Jogo covers the Lions’ preparations for the summer window, it’s claimed that they’re interested in signing a new centre-back, with Alderlecht’s Zeno Debast being a real option.

The reason for this hunt is that Sporting’s two main defenders, Gonçalo Inácio and Diomande, could be leaving in the summer, and that’s where the Blues come in.

The outlet writes there should be ‘special focus on Chelsea’, as well as Arsenal, for their interest in the Ivorian centre-back.

Diomande is protected by a €80m release clause, and despite that high price, it’s considered ‘almost certain’ that someone will come and snatch him from Sporting at the end of the season.

It isn’t yet made clear what the minimum price is that the Lions would accept, partly because that could depend on whether it’s him or Inácio who’d leave first.

Either way, Chelsea are named as one of the big threats, and Sporting are getting ready for that by starting to negotiate for a potential replacement.