Sporting Lisbon are open to parting ways with defender Ousmane Diomande amid interest from Arsenal, according to Portuguese publication Record
The Gunners were keen on signing the teenager from FC Midtjylland last winter but they were beaten to his signature by Sporting, who assured him regular playing time.
Mikel Arteta’s side tried to sign him again for €35 million last summer, but Sporting rebuffed the offer. They refused to accept anything less than his €80m release clause.
It is now reported by Record that Sporting are aiming to hand a new and improved contract to the Ivorian which would extend his stay from June 2027 to June 2028.
This practically rules out the prospect of him leaving in January unless his clause is trigger.
Sporting have, however, not closed the door on his exit in the summer
And the Gunners could handed an opportunity to negotiate a lesser transfer fee for him.
Diomande could become an Elite Centre-Back in the future for Arsenal
The 19-year-old is a strong ball-playing central defender. This season, he has completed 90 per cent of his passes with an average of 1.7 tackles won per league game.
He has made 5.7 ball recoveries per outing and has won an impressive 65 per cent of his duels. Diomande has also made three goal contributions for Sporting.
The youngster has all the attributes to succeed in the Premier League. He is a right centre-back by trade and Arteta could see him as competition for William Saliba.
Diomande could also paired alongside the Frenchman. He is only 19 years of age and could easily develop his understanding from the left centre-back position.
In that case, we could see one of Gabriel Magalhaes or Jakub Kiwior heading for the exit door. It could be the latter, who has been regularly linked with a Serie A return.
