Liverpool Eye Ousmane Diomande as Nottingham Forest Deal Stalls
Nottingham Forest thought they were closing in. A long, complicated pursuit of Ousmane Diomande looked set to end with a statement signing. Instead, the deal has hit the rocks – and Liverpool are now being linked with a move that could change the entire picture.
Forest had lined up the Sporting Lisbon centre-back as a flagship arrival for this window, a 22-year-old already tracked by several of Europe’s heavyweights. At the end of July, BBC Sport reported that Forest were “close to completing” a deal with Sporting, suggesting only final details stood between them and a major coup.
Those “details” have now become the story.
Conflicting reports emerged this week. On Wednesday, Portuguese outlet A Bola claimed Forest had made significant progress and described an agreement for Diomande as “practically finalised”. By Thursday, fresh claims suggested the deal had collapsed. On Friday, A Bola rowed back from the air of certainty, acknowledging that negotiations between Forest and Sporting had run into serious trouble.
The sticking point is not the fee itself, but how it gets paid.
A Bola reported that Sporting want a fixed €40m, with performance-related bonuses potentially pushing the package to €45m, plus a percentage of any future capital gain on a resale. Those numbers, the outlet said, were broadly accepted. The dispute lies in the payment schedule, a detail that has dragged talks to a halt and left the outcome “feared” for now, even if both sides still see a route to agreement.
In other words: Forest’s deal is not dead, but it’s vulnerable. And Liverpool are watching.
Liverpool’s defensive puzzle
While Liverpool’s summer has so far centred on attacking targets – with strong links to PSG pair Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye – their business to date has been modest. Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz are the only arrivals, and neither addresses the most obvious concern in Arne Slot’s squad.
Liverpool look light at centre-back, hit by injuries and short of depth, and they have issues at full-back as well. For a club with ambitions of challenging on multiple fronts, that is a dangerous way to step into a new season.
That context makes Diomande’s situation particularly intriguing. A 22-year-old Ivory Coast international, valued at around €40m, with high-level experience and clear resale potential, fits the profile Liverpool have often targeted when reshaping their back line.
French reporter Sebastien Vidal captured the mood on X, suggesting Liverpool are in a position to take advantage of Forest’s struggle to close the deal.
“Liverpool could benefit from the failure of negotiations between Nottingham Forest and Sporting for Ousmane Diomande,” Vidal wrote, noting that the player “remains available and has long been on the Reds’ radar, as they look to bolster their central defense.”
A classic Premier League hijack?
This is the point in the window when Premier League hijacks tend to happen. One club does the groundwork, edges towards an agreement, then another with a bigger name or stronger financial muscle steps in when talks stall.
Forest have done the hard yards with Sporting, wrestling over fee structure and bonuses. Sporting, for their part, have been clear: they want their valuation respected and the payment terms to reflect Diomande’s status and potential. With negotiations snagged on the schedule of those payments, the door has opened a fraction.
Liverpool, if they choose, can walk through it.
There is no guarantee they will. The club’s current priority list still leans towards attacking reinforcements, and any move for Diomande would require a decisive shift in focus and budget. But the ingredients are all there: a young defender long admired, a fee level they understand, and a rival Premier League club struggling to get the deal over the line.
Forest now face a brutal test of their resolve and financial flexibility. Sporting know they hold a valuable asset. Liverpool know they need defensive steel. Diomande remains in Lisbon, waiting for one of them to turn hesitation into a concrete bid that actually sticks.
