Chelsea face competition from Newcastle United for Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande.
According to The Sun, Ousmane Diomande is on Newcastle’s radar and can be signed for £70m because of a release clause in his contract.
The above comes after TEAMtalk reported last month that Chelsea have identified the 19-year-old as a potential successor to Thiago Silva.
The Brazilian’s contract is up at the end of the season, though he could end up signing a new one because of his son Isago, whose deal with Chelsea’s academy does not expire until 2025.
Silva has been a key player for Mauricio Pochettino this season, starting in all 12 of the Blues’ Premier League games so far.
Chelsea can afford to let Ousmane Diomande join Newcastle
Even if Silva does leave Chelsea, the club will still be quite strong in central defence.
Pochettino’s other centre-back options are: Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana. Trevoh Chalobah is still at Stamford Bridge, too.
If everyone stays fit, that is more than enough for the Argentine.
Should Fofana pick up another bad injury or Pochettino decide to make Colwill a left-back permanently, then that is another story. Perhaps Chelsea will have to consider going out and buying a new centre-half like Diomande.
But for now, the club can certainly be happy with what they have got. And with Silva still performing, there is no need to actually let him go.
Former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp thinks the 39-year-old is still Chelsea’s best player. With the way the Brazil international has played this season, it is quite a fair shout and may delay the arrival of a new central defender.
Still, it looks like Diomande could be on the move at some point in the near future as clubs continue to look at him.
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