Chelsea 'unlikely to win race for Ousmane Diomande'

In the 13-and-a-half months that he has spent with the Portuguese giants, Diomande has established himself as one of the best young centre-backs in world football.

The 20-year-old has already made 37 starts and five substitute outings in all competitions, featuring in a side that currently sit at the top of the Primeira Liga standings.

Diomande was also part of the Ivory Coast squad that recently won the Africa Cup of Nations, albeit not featuring during the latter stages of the tournament.

Nevertheless, the player has been linked with a wide array of high-profile clubs having made the seamless transition from representing Midtjylland in Denmark.

Arsenal are one of the teams who are said to be monitoring the situation as they consider how to add strength-in-depth to their central defensive options.

Chelsea - somewhat naturally given their transfer preferences under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital - are also interested in adding yet another young player with potential to their first-team ranks.

However, according to Football Insider, Chelsea are unlikely to edge out their rivals for Diomande during the summer.

The report suggests that recently-posted losses of £90.1m means that far more focus will have to be placed on sales over incomings until at least the end of June.

With Diomande costing at least £50m, completing a deal for the starlet is considered highly unlikely when Chelsea have such a substantial deficit to make up.

Ian Maatsen, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja are regarded as the most likely to be sold at the present time.

As well as Chalobah - who started Monday's 3-2 victory over Newcastle United - being made available, Thiago Silva will almost certainly depart on a free transfer at the end of his contract.

Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill are viewed as Chelsea's only indispensable central defenders, while Wesley Fofana is effectively not a realistic option for a sale due to the long-term knee injury that has kept him sidelined since the summer.