Brighton & Hove Albion are ready to battle German giants Bayern Munich for the youngster who has been described as an “elite talent”, according to a new report.
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After a worrying run of eight Premier League games without a win, Brighton are now back to winning ways after taking six points from their last two matches. The Seagulls first beat Ipswich Town 2-0 at Portman Road, before beating Manchester United 3-1 at the weekend.
Yankuba Minteh, Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter got on the scoresheet in Fabian Hurzeler’s team’s big win, which the German coach described as “a good game for us”.
After the first goal we were a bit passive, but after they scored we dominated and controlled the game, he said after the match. “We deserved to win. We changed some small differences at half-time which made us stronger and of course we had excellent individual quality on the pitch. It’s all about how hard you press and stay in your structure and we did that well.”
Hurlezer said: “In the Premier League every game is competitive and unpredictable.
“You have to work on the momentum you get and in the last two games and in the FA Cup game we had that belief. If you can outplay your opponent, you can outplay them and I’m happy we’ve been able to do that in recent games.”
Brighton will battle Bayern for Diomande
Despite being ninth in the Premier League table, Hurzeler is still reportedly looking to add some new players to his squad in the January transfer window. According to Tipsbladet, according to Sports Witness, one of them is Sporting CP defender Ousmane Diomande.
The 21-year-old centre-back has been a regular for Sporting since joining them from Denmark’s FC Midtjylland in 2023, making 80 appearances and scoring four goals.
Tipsbladet claims that Brighton are set to battle none other than Bayern Munich for the Ivory Coast international’s signaturewith the fact that both clubs have already contacted Sporting about a potential transfer.
The Portuguese club, however, insist Diomande’s £68m release clause must be activated if he is to leave the Estádio José Alvalade this month.
Diomande, who signed for Sporting while current Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim was in charge, was previously football talent hunter Jacek Kulig described him as an “elite talent”.
“You rarely see a player with such high ball handling and pure defensive skills,” Kulig wrote on X of Diomande. “There are some tactical improvements, but I am absolutely sure that this kid will play for the best teams in the world.”
Branco’s former Ivory Coast boss Jean-Louis Gasset also praised him in similar terms, saying: according to Express: “He is one of the 25 best central defenders in the world under 19 and he is doing everything well. He plays in Portugal, he will play in the best leagues, he will play in the Champions League or the Europa League.”
