Chelsea are reportedly looking at a 21-year-old central defender as a potential transfer target for the summer.
Despite the fact a lot of investment has gone into assembling the Chelsea squad, there are still two of three cracks in it. In particular, we’ve noticed issues in the heart of defence during stages of this season.
Enzo Maresca, the Blues manager, has been guilty of rotating his centre-backs around pretty frequently. The only time he found any consistency was earlier in the campaign when Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill were both fit together.
Chelsea’s summer transfer plan does include going big on signing a new centre-half.
Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images
Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images
Chelsea want to sign Ousmane Diomande for £42m
According to CaughtOffside, Premier League giants Chelsea and Arsenal are both monitoring Sporting Lisbon’s Ousmane Diomande ahead of the summer window.
Apparently, the London clubs are keen on the 21-year-old central defender, who’s got a current release clause worth €80m (£67m) with Sporting.
The report adds that Chelsea and Arsenal feel they may be able to negotiate the centre-back’s valuation to an initial €50m (£42m) fee, with some add-ons included on top.
Sporting remain confident in valuing Diomande at £67m because they expect more suitors from across Europe, though.
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Chelsea scouts watched Diomande in January when they lost a domestic cup final to Benfica on penalties.
It’s interesting that the Ivory Coast international has been linked regularly with a potential move to Stamford Bridge in recent months. In fact, it was claimed in the summer of 2024 that Chelsea’s hierarchy admired Diomande.
Photo by Pedro Loureiro/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Photo by Pedro Loureiro/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Ousmane Diomande is a better passer than Levi Colwill
For any new defender that joins Chelsea in the summer, they’re likely to face competition from the likes of Colwill and Fofana for a starting position.
In terms of Colwill, the 22-year-old centre-back is a talented academy graduate and great passer of the football.
Appearances Tackles won Tackles won % Succesful passes Passing accuracy Average match rating
26 22 66.7% 1820 90.1% 6.97
Levi Colwill in the 2024/25 Premier League season via FOTMOB
Interestingly, Blues target Diomande is statistically an ever better passer in defence than Colwill. He’s been a key player this season for a Sporting team sitting top of their domestic league.
Appearances Tackles won Tackles won % Successful passes Passing accuracy Average match rating
23 18 60.0% 1565 94.4% 7.15
Ousmane Diomande in the 2024/25 Primeira Liga season via FOTMOB
If Chelsea can get Diomande for anywhere near £42m, it could represent a fantastic deal. Our only worry is that it would be yet another young talent when the squad is crying out for a bit more experience and know-how.