For a couple of months, we’ve seen many reports from the Portuguese media claiming Arsenal are interested in signing Ousmane Diomande from Sporting.
The Lions only bought the player from Midtjylland in January, but still, the Gunners were said to be keen on paying €35m for him.
Today, Portuguese newspaper O Jogo features an interview with Ove Pedersen, who’s the sporting vice-director at the Danish side.
The Midtjylland official revealed that it’s Arsenal who could have actually won the race for the defender back then, as they came very close to signing him.
“He was with us for about seven months. We signed him when he was about to turn 18. He arrived in November and we included him in the under-19 team. I remember he played in the Youth League against Benfica and there were scouts watching the game to assess Benfica players.
“At the end, they rang me to ask who Diomande was, where he’d come from. I spoke to the Arsenal scouts, who saw his videos and asked for more information. They were interested. Brexit made that situation difficult, but if it hadn’t been for that he might have gone there.
“Diomande was already coveted. At the time, it was Arsenal, who spotted him in the under-19s, but others too. We know there are a lot of people interested. There are Premier League clubs who have been looking to find out more about him.”
If we look back at rumours from the January transfer window, Arsenal had indeed been linked to the player back then. At the time, Diomande was loaned from Midtjylland to Mafra, who play in the Portuguese second division. That spell was cut short for Sporting to buy him for €7.5m.
Now the defender is valued by Transfermarkt at €25m, protected by a €80m release clause, and also followed by several European clubs. So if the Gunners still want him, they better be prepared to spend big.
