The central defender came close to a Crystal Palace move during the 2025 summer window. Oliver Glasner had already wanted him the January before.
Clearly a big fan of the Sporting player, he’s taken that interest to Nottingham Forest. A transfer appeared imminent a week or so ago, but there’s been a delay.
On July 28th, it was reported in Portugal that Marinakis and his tough-negotiating was holding things up. The clubs were close to an agreement, however, a few million here or there was blocking things.
Perfectly timed match
By a quirk of fate, Nottingham Forest were in the Algarve on Friday to face Sporting in a friendly. Ousmane Diomande didn’t travel with the squad for that match, being left waiting in Lisbon for transfer updates.
Sporting won 4-1, and the Portuguese press were impressed with the performance. Issa Doumbia and Rafael Nel are picked out for special praise.
It would be reasonable to assume that with the Diomande transfer needing a nudge over the line, that Friday was an opportunity for face to face talks.
What’s being said on Saturday
That nudge over the line hasn’t happened, yet.
Saturday’s edition of Jornal de Noticias states Sporting want €40m as a guaranteed payment. Reading between the lines, Nottingham Forest want to get to that figure with bonuses.
The central defender came close to a Crystal Palace move during the 2025 summer window. Oliver Glasner had already wanted him the January before.
Clearly a big fan of the Sporting player, he’s taken that interest to Nottingham Forest. A transfer appeared imminent a week or so ago, but there’s been a delay.
On July 28th, it was reported in Portugal that Marinakis and his tough-negotiating was holding things up. The clubs were close to an agreement, however, a few million here or there was blocking things.
Perfectly timed match
By a quirk of fate, Nottingham Forest were in the Algarve on Friday to face Sporting in a friendly. Ousmane Diomande didn’t travel with the squad for that match, being left waiting in Lisbon for transfer updates.
Sporting won 4-1, and the Portuguese press were impressed with the performance. Issa Doumbia and Rafael Nel are picked out for special praise.
It would be reasonable to assume that with the Diomande transfer needing a nudge over the line, that Friday was an opportunity for face to face talks.