According to Portuguese news outlet A Bola (via Chronicle Live), Newcastle scouts attended Sporting Lisbon’s Taca da Liga clash with Porto last week to watch long-term target Ousmane Diomande.
Newcastle United have been in incredible form in recent weeks, with supporters enjoying confident victories across the Premier League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
The Magpies have the opportunity to break into the top four if they can take all three points from Wolverhampton Wanderers this evening, and are in pole position to progress to the Carabao Cup final at Wembley after winning 2-0 in their first leg clash with Arsenal last week.
Supporters will be feeling much more relaxed and confident with the progress the club has been making since the complete U-turn in performances after a very poor and inconsistent start to the season.
However, there is still much improvement needed if Newcastle are going to maintain their high expectations in both domestic competition and on the European stage if they are to qualify at the end of this campaign.
As a result, building a strong squad depth and bringing in the right profiles for the most influential positions on the pitch will be essential when the opportunities arise to do so, something Paul Mitchell will be responsible for both this month and in the summer.
Although the summer of 2024 will be one Newcastle fans will want to forget, it is clear the club are working hard to identify the players who can take the team to the next level in the long term, and the latest reports coming out of Portugal back that up.
A Bola (via Chronicle Live) has published a report with a list of clubs who were in attendance for Sporting Lisbon’s Taca da Liga clash with Porto last week, and Newcastle were one of the clubs with representation at the game.
Chronicle Live has further noted that this could have been taken as an opportunity to check in on long-term target Ousmane Diomande, a 6ft 3 right-sided centre-back with bags of potential to become a key asset for the club if they can convince Sporting to part ways.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have also been named by the North East publication as Premier League clubs who have taken an interest in Diomande recently, so there is likely to be strong competition to secure his signature.
Who is Ousmane Diomande?
There is no doubt that a centre-back has been on the wishlist of the Tyneside giants for a while now, with a very public and ambitious attempt to sign Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi last summer.
However, they have not been able to nail down their target as of yet and are clearly looking for a defender who can become the future of the centre-back partnership alongside Sven Botman, so a younger player who can bring experience in Europe would be massively advantageous.
Once hailed “top-class” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, Diomande has rightfully been attracting attention from some of the biggest clubs in England for his performances at both club and international level.
As per FBref, the 21-year-old Sporting sensation ranks in the top 5% of his positional peers in Men’s Next 14 Competitions for shots on goal, passes attempted, pass completion and touches per 90, excelling in his progressive role and displaying his ball-playing assets.
Not only that, over 16 Liga Portugal appearances this season, Diomande has an 84% pass completion rate and has completed a whopping 64% of his duels, as well as averaging 82.3 touches, 70.6 accurate passes, 5.1 ball recoveries, 1.1 tackles and 1.9 clearances per game, further attributing to his complete dominance on the pitch for the Portuguese giants.
Finding the natural successor for 33-year-old Fabian Schar will be a difficult task for the Magpies as he is such an impactful player in both attacking opportunities and defensive solidarity, but breaking the bank for Diomande could be the answer.
Indeed, Newcastle have been burned by the financial restrictions applied to them by the Premier League, however, the £65m bid submitted for Guehi in the summer suggests it would not be impossible for the club to take those risks when they right player presents themselves.
It was reported last summer that it would cost £51m for Sporting to part ways with their talented defender, however, it is unclear whether this would be enough to snap up his services now with interesting growing as he flourishes in Portugal.
