Leeds United are making advances in their ongoing pursuit of Sporting’s Ousmane Diomande, and are ready to spend big.
On June 8th, we relayed news that the Whites want to secure the centre-back’s services quickly.
Two days later, Sport Witness covered claims from Portugal of Leeds United’s desire to make him their record signing.
Their current record signing is Georginio Rutter, who cost over €40m in January 2023. The Premier League side are prepared to surpass this for the Ivory Coast international.
Leeds United willing to pay big
Wednesday’s edition of A Bola states Leeds United have already made the first approach to sign the 22-year-old.
Daniel Farke’s side contacted Ousmane Diomande’s camp to find out whether he’s open to joining them. The newspaper makes no mention of his response and insists his immediate focus is on the World Cup.
However, the English club are showing willingness to offer ‘unprecedented figures’.
Leeds United are ready to offer €40m plus €10m bonuses linked to his performances. The next step is to convert this into a formal offer and present it to the Lions.
A Bola con’t state whether the Portuguese club are open to accepting the €50m bid, especially considering Diomande has an €80m release clause.
The defender was an unused substitute in his national team’s 1-0 World Cup win over Ecuador due to an injury.
Diomande is now working on regaining full fitness and making himself available for the next clash against Germany on Saturday.
Leeds United rushing to avoid potential competition
The Ivorian could attract more suitors if he were to shine at the World Cup and this would spoil the Whites’ concrete efforts.
Leeds United would want to avoid any potential transfer battle for Ousmane Diomande and therefore, are in a rush to wrap it up quickly.
Transfermarkt value the player, who has a contract until 2030, at €42m. He played 31 matches for Sporting this season.
