Chelsea now scouting the fifth best prospect in world football, Arsenal have already bid £30m for him

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Chelsea are interested in Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande and have scouted the 19-year-old.

That is according to a report from Record.

The Portuguese outlet claims that Chelsea sent a scout to watch Ousmane Diomande’s performance for the Ivory Coast in their recent 1-1 draw with Morocco, while their London rivals Arsenal made a €35m (£30m) bid for him in the summer.

If Chelsea or Arsenal do go on to sign Diomande, they will be getting a player with incredible potential.

The central defender has ranked fifth in Scouted Notebook’s Scouted50, which lists 50 breakout players to watch this season.

Life after Thiago Silva

There is a strong possibility of Silva leaving Chelsea next summer, with his contract expiring at the end of the season.

The Blues would not be left in a bad position if the Brazilian does depart, as Mauricio Pochettino still has other options.

Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana are all centre-backs, so Chelsea are not exactly light in that department.

Nevertheless, if the club do want to bring in another central defender if Silva does leave Stamford Bridge, then perhaps they will try to bring in Diomande.

The Sporting youngster is the profile of player Chelsea have been signing recently, someone who is young and has a lot of potential.

You can argue that the Blues buying another centre-half would be overkill, but Fofana’s injury problems are a concern, while Colwill has been playing left-back this term following his return from Brighton & Hove Albion.