Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner has pulled back the curtain on one of the most exciting defensive acquisitions of the summer transfer window, revealing the fascinating backstory behind Ousmane Diomande’s £34 million arrival at the City Ground.
Speaking after handing the Ivory Coast international his debut in a thrilling 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen, the Reds boss admitted that his pursuit of the 22-year-old central defender spans far beyond his current tenure in Nottingham. In fact, Glasner tried to secure Diomande during his time in the dugout at Crystal Palace as the ultimate successor to England star Marc Guehi.
The Crystal Palace Secret That Kept Marc Guehi in London
While fans at Selhurst Park spent last summer sweating over the future of Marc Guehi—who eventually secured a blockbuster move to Manchester City—Glasner has now confessed that a domino effect was secretly mapped out behind the scenes.
“To be honest, at Palace he should have been the replacement for Marc Guehi, but we couldn’t sign him, and that’s why Marc Guehi stayed,” Glasner revealed.
“It was a secret actually, it was internally agreed that we can sell Marc if we get the right offer and then bring his replacement in, and he would have been the replacement because we could see his quality already.”
Unable to land his primary target in South London, Glasner had to wait. But when the opportunity arose to bring the former Sporting CP powerhouse to Nottingham Forest this week for around £34 million, the Austrian tactician made sure the board didn’t miss out a second time.
Elite Pedigree and a Desperately Needed Winning Mentality
Evaluating what makes Diomande such a transformative signing for Forest, Glasner pointed to a rare combination of physical dominance, tactical comfort in possession, and high-level experience that belies his tender age of 22.
“You can see it, physicality, pace, comfortable in the build-up,” Glasner noted.
Beyond his raw athletic traits, Diomande brings a ruthless winning pedigree cultivated in the pressure cooker of Portuguese football.
“When you are in this age and having, I don’t know exactly, 100 games in Portugal league? 15 Champions League games? Playing for your national team… In Portugal, for Sporting, you have to win the league, you have to win the cup, otherwise it’s a bad season. It was the same for Benfica and Porto. They have experience on the highest level, and they are used to competing for titles.”
Building a Dynamic, Balanced Backline
The addition of Diomande injecting instant pedigree rounds out an exceptionally youthful and dynamic central defensive unit at the City Ground. Forest now boast an enviable blend of emerging talents and seasoned anchors, perfectly tailored to survive the grueling weekly demands of the Premier League.
As Glasner highlighted, the squad’s age profile is packed with long-term potential:
- Nikola Milenkovic: The experienced anchor of the backline.
- Ousmane Diomande: 22 years old, already battle-tested in the Champions League.
- Murillo: 24 years old, commanding and athletic.
- Morato: 24–25 years old, adding vital left-sided balance.
- Jair Cunha: 21 years old, high-ceiling prospect.
- Zach Abbott: 20 years old, breaking through impressively.
Solving the Set-Piece Puzzle
Beyond open-play defending and buildup play, Glasner pointed out another crucial tactical reason why splashing the cash on Diomande was an absolute necessity for Forest’s Premier League survival and ambitions: aerial dominance.
“We have to consider everything, set pieces is a massive topic in the Premier League and we have quite small wing backs, in midfield we have just Ibrahim Sangaré, let’s say who is tall, and when we play like in the first half and even in the second half when Chris Wood doesn’t play, even our strikers and the tens are not tall. So we need headers and Diomande is one of the best headers, this was also one of the topics.”
With Ousmane Diomande now officially through the door and pulling on the Garibaldi red, Nottingham Forest have secured not only the Marc Guehi replacement Glasner coveted for years, but a cornerstone defender ready to elevate the club to new heights this season.
