Newcastle United have reportedly been frequently sending scouts on missions to keep tabs on a trophy-laden Liga Portugal defender who has interest from several Premier League clubs.
After winning a trophy themselves, the Magpies are now looking to add more cup winners and title challengers to their squad to help them get up to the next level.
Newcastle United have over £150m to spend, so the funds are there. It is now down to Eddie Howe and head of recruitment Steve Nickson to deliver for the club in the summer transfer window.
Current sporting director Paul Mitchell will still be there to help, but he will leave the club at the end of the month after less than a year in the role. Newcastle are looking to sign a defender, with Marc Guehi one of their biggest options after missing out on him during the 2024 summer window.
Newcastle think they can sign Guehi for £40m, but a new transfer report has shared that club scouts have regularly scouted a Liga Portugal defender who the Magpies have been linked with in the past.
Sporting Lisbon ace Ousmane Diomande
Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images
Newcastle United scouting Sporting Lisbon ace Ousmane Diomande
After a fantastic season in Portugal, it comes as no surprise that Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande has attracted interest from the Premier League.
Since signing in 2023, Diomande has played an integral role in Sporting’s success, and this season was no different. The 21-year-old made 31 league appearances during the 2024/25 campaign to help Sporting win the Liga Portugal and the Portuguese Cup, all while having to deal with managerial changes.
Diomande has been linked with Newcastle in the past, with the AFCON winner one of four centre-backs Mitchell was believed to be looking at earlier this year.
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Now, according to the Telegraph, Newcastle have ‘regularly scouted’ Diomande over the last year. The report adds that the Ivory Coast international has been heavily linked with moves to Chelsea and Crystal Palace, but Newcastle are ‘likely’ to be at the negotiating table.
It is believed that Newcastle could sign him for a fee of around £45m.
Newcastle United are keeping their international transfer targets close to their chest
While Diomande seems to have slipped through the cracks, Newcastle have done a good job of keeping who they want to sign from abroad a secret.
The Magpies have been linked to several names from England, with the likes of Joao Pedro and James Trafford heavily linked with moves this summer, but Diomande seems to be the only name that has been revealed.
From the same Telegraph report, Newcastle officials are believed to be very pleased that their transfer targets abroad have been kept a secret. The report also makes a point to mention that Sandro Tonali’s negotiations were kept under wraps for a significant amount of time before the news came to fruition.
It raises the question of whether there are deals bubbling away in the background abroad, and whether Howe has had the whole situation under control.