Aston Villa ‘plotting’ move for £50m-rated ace watched by Arsenal and Chelsea
new players this summer. They also have the opportunity to cut ties with some individuals should they wish to. Unai Emery’s side are sat in 6th place in the Premier League.
They also remain in the Champions League and FA Cup. The Midlands outfit won 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest over the weekend. Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen got their goals against the Reds.
Aston Villa target Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande
Aston Villa are ‘plotting’ a move for Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande, according to Football Insider. The report adds that he is valued at around the £50million mark and has been watched by the Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City over recent times. His current club could face a battle to keep hold of him later this year amid attention from elsewhere.
Diomande, 21, would be a good long-term option at the back for Villa if they managed to land him. He has two years left on his contract and it remains to be seen how long he will be staying in Portugal for. Sporting swooped to sign him back in 2023 and he has since become a key player.
He started his career as a youngster at OS Abobo. FC Midtjylland then landed him in 2020 and he was loaned out by the Danish side to Mafra to get some experience under his belt. The Ivory Coast international, who has eight caps under his belt so far in his career, moved to the Estádio José Alvalade and has since scored six goals in 92 matches altogether and is a wanted man by other teams.
Aston Villa reaction to Nottingham Forest win
Malen was delighted to get on the scoresheet against Nottingham Forest. Aston Villa signed him back in January from Borussia Dortmund. He has said: “Of course, if you’re coming new to a club, you want to get your goals in as soon as possible.
“I had to wait a few weeks, a few games, try to stay patient and train hard. I’m happy I could help. I think we all knew it was very important. They’re a good team, a bit awkward to play against so we’re quite satisfied we got the win.”
Meanwhile, Rogers added: “We knew going into the game that we had to win ultimately if we wanted to challenge and get into the Champions League positions, which we set out to do at the start of the season. We were against a good team who are in great form and we knew it was going to be difficult, but we started the game incredibly well and got two goals. That settled us down and got us playing.
“In the second half, we knew they were going to come back at us, and they did. We just did enough to withstand their pressure and attacks because they’ve got quality. I thought we did really well and deserved the win in the end.”
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