news-engine

Good Morning Nottingham Forest fans, and welcome to today’s edition of The Daily Diomande. At first a little recap from what’s happened over the past ten days: For over a week, it appeared like not a lot was happening, and then on Wednesday came what looked like a breakthrough. Sporting CP have been sticking to their guns over receiving €40m guaranteed plus €5m in potential bonuses. Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, have wanted to pay €38m fixed, plus bonuses which could reach an extra €4m. Wednesday’s edition of A Bola stated: ‘The most advanced process is that of Diomande. The defender’s move to Nottingham Forest is practically finalised.’ The agreement was believed to be around that €45m plus €5m, and only payment terms were left to conclude. Thursday gloom for Nottingham Forest That bubble was quickly burst on Thursday. Bruno Andrade reported for Maisfutebol that negotiations between Nottingham Forest and Sporting had collapsed. There’d been a big disagreement between representatives of the two clubs and talks had come to an end. That didn’t mean it was all over, although a major turnaround would be needed to get Ousmane Diomande to The City Ground. Friday brings a little sunshine, but with clouds On Friday, A Bola make an attempt to explain what went wrong, sticking to their guns over there being a general fee agreement on Wednesday. Negotiations continuing is ‘shaky’ but ‘possible’. The Portuguese newspaper explain disagreements over payment terms is behind the setback in negotiations. Maybe that shouldn’t be such a surprise. Given Sporting and Nottingham Forest have spent weeks disagreeing about each step, then this is only natural. ‘According to information gathered by A Bola, disagreements over the payment terms from the English club to the Alvalade club were the cause of the stalled negotiation round. The outcome is, for now, feared, it is true, but the possibility of still reaching an agreement exists. ‘Sporting aims for a fixed fee of no less than €40m, with bonuses that could inflate the deal to €45m and the right to a percentage of the capital gain in a future sale. According to A Bola, this amount was agreed upon, and the payment schedule is at the heart of the falling out between the two clubs.’ O Jogo drop in €50m as asking price Over at O Jogo, they have it differently. And not in a good way. The Portuguese newspaper state Nottingham Forest are not prepared to go over €40m fixed plus bonuses. However, Sporting are now trying to push the deal to €50m. That’s something of an anomaly compared to what is being said elsewhere. Unless… Sporting have always been looking for €40m plus €10m bonuses since the start. During the Viktor Gyokeres negotiations, they pushed for a selection of easy bonuses and then some difficult ones. That’s one explanation, although it’s likelier their information is wrong. O Jogo expect more negotiations in the coming days, once everyone has had the chance to cool off a little. What’s the likely scenarios then? Sporting and Nottingham Forest meeting in negotiations for a big signing is like a rock meeting a hard place. Just as Evangelos Marinakis has a reputation as a tough negotiator, so does Sporting president Frederico Varandas. The Portuguese club need big sales almost each year to fund their operations. Therefore, they need to get the best value and build a reputation of not selling cheaply. It’s a requirement of Sporting to publish the figures behind their transfer agreements, so there’s no hiding behind smoke and mirrors. This isn’t being reported in Portugal, but rather than payment terms being the hold-up, it could instead be bonus terms. That was an issue with Gyokeres and earlier Sporting transfers like Bruno Fernandes. There’s a demand that the potential bonuses are highly likely to happen, and do so quickly. Ousmane Diomande has now been on the verge of a transfer multiple times, despite being just 22-years-of-age. At this point, his agents need to be pushing this one through. 🇮🇹 Nikola Milenkovic: Juventus consider attempt to sign Nottingham Forest player https://t.co/OHenZU2Vcu #nffc — Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) August 6, 2026