Liverpool could be set to take advantage of Nottingham Forest’s collapsed negotiations with Sporting Lisbon for Ousmane Diomande.
French journalist Sebastien Vidal reports on X (formerly Twitter) that the £34.2m-valued centre-back has “long been on the Reds’ radar”.
The Merseysiders have suffered a multitude of injury concerns in the backline in recent months.
Nottingham Forest’s loss could be Liverpool’s gain
With the greatest of respect to Forest, we’re struggling to understand how £34.2m is proving to be a major stumbling block in their pursuit of the Primeira Liga star.
Liverpool pourrait profiter de l’échec des négociations entre Nottingham Forest et le Sporting pour Ousmane Diomande. Le défenseur ivoirien de 22 ans, estimé autour de 40 M€, reste disponible et figure depuis longtemps sur les radars des Reds, qui cherchent à renforcer leur…
— Sébastien Vidal (@SebEcrivainFoot) August 7, 2026
Still, if Oliver Glasner’s men are seriously not interested in evolving their interest further this summer, we’d hope that Liverpool are looking at Diomande as a potential market opportunity.
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As we’ve already discussed extensively at Empire of the Kop, it seems that any further business to address the gaps in the squad will depend on our talks with PSG to sign Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye.
The Frenchman, one might reasonably expect, will set Liverpool back in the region of £100m-plus, with the Parisien giants hoping to secure closer to £145m for the 23-year-old.
Why would Ousmane Diomande be an attractive signing?
Ousmane Diomande’s ball-playing ability is certainly worth bragging about, with him demonstrating remarkable accuracy over both short and long distances.
| Ousmane Diomande’s stats (per 90) | Percentiles |
| 0.04 xA | 71st |
| 68.77 successful passes | 88th |
| 93.1% successful passes percentage | 95th |
| 3.54 accurate long balls | 74th |
| 67.1% accurate long balls percentage | 97th |
* Ousmane Diomande’s stats in the 2025/26 Primeira Liga (Fotmob)
That’s not to suggest the Ivorian is simply flawless across all aspects. We do have some serious concerns over the 22-year-old’s work against the ball, with some rather alarming figures around duels and aerial duels contested.
| Ousmane Diomande’s stats (per 90) | Percentiles |
| 48.6% duels won percentage | 9th |
| 57.4% aerial duels won percentage | 44th |
Now, Diomande does play for a dominant side in Portugal, which we’re sure will influence the numbers we’re seeing.
But we’d still hope to see a centre-back linked to Liverpool boasting impressive aerial prowess, given how the Premier League has become increasingly defined by set-piece play and physicality.
It’s easy drop the insanity of playing crazy monopoly money for Barcola (PSG are killing themselves with laughter on this one)…buy Mbaye and Fernandez Pardo or Rayan and strengthen at the back….It is not difficult/whoever is behind the insanity of chasing Barcola/like the chase with Diomande/wasting time energy and hopefully not money. YNWA.
Agree 100% – that makes much more sense!
He should have been our number 1 target the club scouts know all about him .better than Konote
Yes oo bro
Aye, the Barcola chase is worrying me. I’ve checked him out a lot on YouTube which only highlights his good stuff. His stats are not spectacular. There is a lad at Ajax who we’ve been linked with this week, his stats are far more impressive and he will cost more than half of which Barclola is gonna cost.
This not liverpool I know before, a whole transfer negotiating barcola deal. Lots of good players with low price tag… Tired of reading about barcola… Have to sleep
Grab this guy – NOW!
Yes…yes….yes….
Pardo….Mbaye…..and a prove premier league centre back preferably young.
Players who attack and think vertically with pace.
Like Munoz great signing with huge potential.
Hughes is going Saudi so he’s not bothered about spending high Liverpool money he will then go to psg later
Liverpool has to be quick in the pursuit of signing a winger and central midfielder plus a right back
Anfield should show seriousness in signing players…who will bolster the attack because time states we are without ekitike