Arsenal have ‘intensified their efforts’ for Sporting Club de Portugal defender Ousmane Diomande and are planning to scout him at the Africa Cup of Nations.
That’s according to Record, who say Arsenal are paving the way towards making a bid for the 20-year-old defender.
Diomande has been impressing at Sporting since arriving from FC Midtjylland in the January transfer window, earning himself several admirers in the Premier League as a result.
Arsenal are one of those to have been consistently linked throughout last year, with the last report coming midway through last month and claiming that they were following Diomande and teammate Viktor Gyökeres.
Record now follow that up and explain that Diomande is at the top of Arsenal’s list of possible reinforcements for their defence.
They say that the Gunners have ‘intensified their efforts’ to ‘prepare the way’ for a proposal and according to the newspaper’s information will have an official in attendance at the Africa Cup of Nations to keep an eye on him.
It seems they’re not yet ready to make a move but are planning one, a desire that could increase if their scout sends back positive reports from AFCON.
How much they’re willing to spend isn’t mentioned but Sporting have already put their stall out on that front, making it public knowledge that they don’t want to sell a key player in this window and will only let him go if his release clause is met.
That is currently €80m, a big price for Arsenal to pay given they’ve already spent big sums strengthening in the last few windows for Mikel Arteta.
