Arsenal want to sign £69m player they could've landed for £7m in January

Arsenal have reportedly rekindled their interest in Sporting Lisbon’s Ousmane Diomande.

Portuguese outlet Record has claimed that the Gunners have got in touch with the Lions over their defender.

Apparently, ‘some top clubs in Europe’ have been keenly following the 19-year-old’s progress.

Indeed, a ‘tempting offer’ could arrive from one of those top clubs for Diomande this summer.

Arsenal are the only club that Record name in their report, suggesting they have a strong interest in him.

However, he won’t come cheap for the Gunners, who may well have been priced out of a move.

Sporting reportedly won’t do business for less than his release clause of €80million (£69million).

‘Both are trying to buy the player’

Interestingly, reports in January suggested Arsenal could’ve signed Diomande for a fraction of his current price.

According to journalist Bruno Andrade, the Gunners were eyeing the defender when he was on Midtjylland’s books.

At the time, Diomande was on loan at Portuguese second-tier club Mafra.

The Danish club were reportedly standing firm on their €10million (£7million) valuation.

Arsenal apparently considered signing Diomande and then loaning him out to Sporting.

However, according to Andrade’s tweet on 21 January, that possibility was “no longer” the case.

“The English and Portuguese are now working on different fronts for the young centre-back loaned to Mafra,” he wrote.

Andrade then replied to a follower who asked what these different fronts were. “Both are trying to buy the player,” he said.

At the end of the January transfer window, his loan at Mafra was cut short as Sporting signed him permanently.

If the above reports are all true, then Arsenal will no doubt be wishing they had pushed harder for Diomande when he was below £10million.

Nonetheless, the Gunners have had a great transfer window, and the likelihood is he may not have had as much game time as he’s getting at Sporting.

Diomande to Arsenal seems unlikely this summer, but let’s see how he continues to develop. He’s on an upward trajectory, that’s for sure.