Ousmane DIOMANDE
Sporting (Por)
Age: 20
Centre-back
The hefty €80 million release clause that Lisbon big guns Sporting have slapped on the highly-rated Ivorian centre-back does not appear to be dampening the interest of a host of leading Premier League teams. Arsenal, Newcastle, Manchester City and Chelsea are all thought to be very keen on the man-mountain defender and will be heartened by rumours that he has a soft spot for English football.
Diomande, under contract to Sporting until 2027, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent times. Just four years ago, he was performing in the Ivorian third division with Olympic Sport Abobo; in the 2021-22 season he was still a member of the Midtjylland youth team in Denmark, and he spent part of the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Mafra (Midtjylland’s sister club) in the Portuguese second tier. His big break came early in 2023 when Sporting shelled out €7.5m for him. Taking on the challenge with his customary composure, he became a first-team starter within a couple of weeks.
Arguably Sporting’s most effective and consistent performer as they seek to lead the dance in the current Portuguese title race, Diomande is the epitome of the modern day centre-back: an amalgam of power, speed and two-footed technique. Not only is he a beast physically, an intense competitor, who sees every duel as one he must win – “It gives me a thrill to make a good tackle,” he says – he has more than enough speed to cope with any quicksilver frontrunner, reads the game well, can pass accurately and brings the ball out of defence with brio.
“I am the sort of player who likes to have the ball at his feet,” Diomande told Sporting’s magazine. “When I’m on the ball, I try to come up with the right solutions and to successfully do that, I aim to always be calm. I’m capable of producing good passes and would like to think I anticipate things well.”
Sporting coach Ruben Amorim is convinced that the club pulled off a real coup in jumping the queue to secure Diomande’s services in January 2023. “He has so much talent and what most people don’t know is that a high quantity of top clubs were chasing him,” revealed Amorim shortly after his unveiling. “We’re more and more confident that we’ve completed an excellent signing. He’s strong both with and without the ball. I wouldn’t choose anyone else.”
Mafra president Jose Cristo says he never had any doubt that Diomande was en route to the top, labelling him: “a player, who, in my opinion, could fit in any team in the world.”
Johan BAKAYOKO
PSV (Ned)
Age: 20
Winger
The Belgium wide-man is one of the most effervescent and silky attacking young players in Europe today – little wonder the likes of Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are watching him closely. The PSV academy graduate is revelling in the responsibility of his first season as a starter at the Philips Stadion.
Carlos BALEBA
Brighton (Eng)
Age: 19
Defensive midfielder
The Cameroon ace, acquired last summer from Lille in a deal worth around €27m, seems to be worth every penny, justifying the assertion of Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi that Baleba represented the “future of the club.” Outstanding technique, vision and tactical awareness.
Valentin BARCO
Boca Juniors (Arg)
Age:19
Left-back/left-winger
Little red-headed figure who made a big impact in the second half of 2023. Can play as an attacking left-back, but best utilised as a winger where he is free to play from the flank, running at defenders, linking with the strikers and carrying a threat with his left-footed shots and set-pieces.
Bradley BARCOLA
Paris Saint-Germain (Fra)
Age: 21
Forward
After coming good for Lyon in the second half of last season, the France Under-21 tyro now faces the challenge of living up to the €45m fee Ligue 1 champions PSG splashed out for him last summer. He very much has the tools, especially
