Nottingham Forest have signed Ivory Coast defender Ousmane Diomande from Portuguese club Sporting in a deal worth a reported £34m., externalThe 22-year-old has signed a four-year contract with Forest, who have an option for a further year. New Forest manager Oliver Glasner favours a 3-5-2 formation and Diomande is likely to play alongside Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo in a back three. Diomande started his career at Olympic Sport Abobo in his homeland and was at Danish club FC Midtjylland before joining Sporting in January 2023. The central defender made 132 first-team appearances for the Lisbon club and helped Sporting win consecutive Portuguese league titles in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He was part of the side that reached the Champions League quarter-finals last season before being edged out by Arsenal.