Arsenal and Chelsea are among the teams prepared to trigger an €80 million release clause to sign Ousmane Diomande but face Real Madrid competition.
According to Defensa Central, Arsenal and Chelsea are prepared to pay what it takes to sign Ousmane Diomande, but only in the summer. They face intense competition from Real Madrid for the €80 million-rated defender ahead of the January transfer window.
Top clubs keen on Ousmane Diomande
Sporting CP have two young defenders who can fetch massive fees in January or next summer. Goncalo Inacio and Ousmane Diomande have flourished under Ruben Amorim and look set for an extensive career ahead.
Arsenal are already considering a loan-to-buy offer to sign Inacio and also have set eyes on Diomande for next summer. In the latter’s case, the Gunners are prepared to fork out what’s necessary for the highly-rated defender, which is also his €80 million release clause.
Chelsea are also in the same boat, as they are keen to sign the young defender and, like Arsenal, could trigger his release clause. The Blues are tracking Diomande and striker Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP, with the pair likely to cost a combined €180 million if we consider their release clauses.
Now, Real Madrid are also very much in the hunt for Diomande, as they have a defensive crisis to manoeuvre ahead of the second part of the season. The ACL injuries to Eder Militao earlier and now David Alaba will see the pair miss the rest of the campaign, forcing the Spanish giants to find a new defender.
Arsenal and Chelsea face Real Madrid threat for Diomande
Real Madrid have put themselves in the hunt for a new central defender to offset the loss of David Alaba. They have looked at several options, including former star Raphael Varane, with the Manchester United man keen on re-joining.
Similarly, they are keeping tabs on Willian Pacho from Eintracht Frankfurt as an option, and now they have the idea of Diomande. The report states Real Madrid could trigger the €80 million clause to force Sporting into a sale, despite the Portuguese side only keen on selling in the summer.
If they find a breakthrough with Sporting, Real Madrid will pose a significant threat to Arsenal and Chelsea in their pursuit of Diomande. Hence, the Premier League clubs might re-think their strategy with the €80 million-rated defender and potentially even look to make an offer in January.
