In the middle of the season, it used to be common to see Premier League clubs, especially Newcastle United, linked to Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande.
The centre-back indeed had a great start to 2023/24, and that drew the interest of a few English sides.
Those rumours slowly calmed, with Newcastle United being mentioned every now and again, and as Mais Futebol now shares some clips from CNN, we get to see journalist Bruno Andrade bringing some interesting claims on Diomande’s situation.
It’s then highlighted by Andrade how poor Diomande has been since the Africa Cup of Nations, with the journalist even claiming he has the feeling that Sporting have been fielding the player just to help his marketability recently.
The Portuguese media indeed have been saying that the Lions are willing to offer a discount for the centre-back, who’s protected by a €80m release clause.
For Sporting to make an effort to get that discount message out there, and coming around the same time he’s been struggling with form, looks like an eagerness to sell.
Newcastle United should therefore be hesitant about spending big on this one.
