Some Crystal Palace fans are feeling green with envy as Nottingham Forest close in on the £35m signing of Ousmane Diomande.
The Ivory Coast international is widely regarded as one of the best central defenders in Europe, and some supporters seem a tad jealous as Crystal Palace instead work on a fairly underwhelming deal – in comparison – for Augsburg No.5 Chrislain Matsima.
It was well-documented that Oliver Glasner wanted Diomande at Selhurst Park. A deal unfortunately never materialised, and the Daily Mail can now share why.
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Crystal Palace ‘did not move quickly enough’ for Ousmane Diomande
Bobby Manzi now writes that the Eagles ‘did not move quickly enough’ for the Ivorian.
It is said that Glasner wanted Diomande to replace Marc Guehi in January after the England international sealed a £20m move to Manchester City.
However, Crystal Palace took too long and the 22-year-old eventually chose to sign a new contract with Sporting CP which included a £68.5m release clause.
That figure proved ‘prohibitive’ and Jaydee Canvot was instead promoted to the starting XI.
It is unclear how Nottingham Forest have now agreed a deal to sign Diomande for just £35m when his release clause is worth roughly double that fee.
Some Crystal Palace fans are irked by the fact that £52m has just arrived from the sale of Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea, so the Eagles could have matched Nottingham Forest’s bid and had cash to spare.
From our perspective, we can only imagine the Eagles opted against revisiting a deal for Diomande due to how strongly Canvot and Chadi Riad finished the 2025/26 campaign.
The duo are expected to start regularly under Pierre Sage alongside Chris Richards in a 3-4-3 formation, so it is possible that Crystal Palace do not actually want to bring in another marquee option in the centre of defence, and are simply content to spend less on a backup option like the aforementioned Matsima.
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If that is the case, then fair enough – although questions will be asked if Riad suffers a recurrence of the injury nightmare that has plagued the Morocco international since his £14m move from Real Betis in June 2024.
