Sporting and Nottingham Forest Finalize Diomande Deal

The transfer of Ousmane Diomande to Nottingham Forest is all but sealed. The agreement, which took some time to finalize, will see the 22-year-old center-back join the Premier League club within hours. Forest is currently in Portugal for their pre-season training camp and is even scheduled to play against Sporting. The Ivorian's move will bring €40 million into Sporting's coffers.

English clubs have shown consistent interest in Diomande, largely due to Oliver Glasner, who had identified him during his time as Crystal Palace manager. Crystal Palace, it's worth noting, had reportedly set aside over €50 million last summer to acquire the defender. The pursuit has been intense, and Diomande's departure is imminent. The defender, who wore Sporting's number 26 jersey, will have a short journey to the Algarve to link up with his new teammates. This means he will face his former club as an opponent as early as Friday, when the two teams clash in Faro/Loulé.

If the deal is completed in time, he could potentially face Sporting at 7:45 PM. However, given the lack of integration time, it's more likely he'll feature earlier on Friday morning in Forest's other closed-door friendly against Portimonense from Liga 2.

To remove the 'almost' from the 'almost closed' deal, only the payment terms and bureaucratic details need to be finalized. Despite the challenging negotiations with Greek billionaire Evangelos Marinakis, Forest's majority shareholder, Sporting is set to secure the €40 million that has always been their minimum asking price. Bonuses could push the deal to €45 million, and a 10 percent sell-on clause for future profits is also part of the agreement.

Sporting, it's worth remembering, signed the center-back in 2023 from Midtjylland, who had loaned him to Mafra in Liga 2. The initial financial operation was €7.5 million, with an additional €5 million contingent on sporting achievements. This bonus was tied to the player's appearances, divided into three payments of €1.66 million, activated upon reaching 30, 60, and 90 official matches with at least 45 minutes played. The final threshold was met and paid at the start of last season.

All told, Sporting's total expenditure for the Ivorian international amounted to €14.5 million. This is because the Sporting SAD invested an additional €2 million to buy back half of the 20 percent sell-on clause that Midtjylland held, reducing the Danish club's share to 10 percent.

These figures ultimately confirm the sporting success of a center-back recruited from Liga 2. With the deal now finalized with Nottingham Forest, the Alvalade club stands to make a profit of €25.5 million, from which they will deduct the €2.55 million (10 percent) still owed to the Nordic club.

This marks the end of a three-and-a-half-season spell between Sporting and Diomande, who had renewed his contract until 2030 in December, maintaining his release clause at €80 million.