19-year-old who Newcastle have scouted tipped to become ‘one of the best CBs in the world’

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Newcastle United are always building for the future, and are looking to sign Sven Botman’s long-term partner at St James’ Park.

The Magpies brought Botman to the club for £35million last summer from Lille. He has been exceptional in black and white, proving to be a brilliant bit of business by Dan Ashworth and co.

At 23-years-old, his best years are still ahead of him. Botman is only going to get better and better in the coming seasons, and should be Newcastle‘s resident left-sided centre-back for the foreseeable future.

However, it is currently unclear who his long-term partner will be. He has a wonderful understanding with Fabian Schar, but the Swiss superstar is 31 and can’t go on forever.

Newcastle need to find someone to play alongside Botman, which is why talk of a move for Ousmane Diomande is very exciting.

Newcastle scout Ousmane Diomande

The 19-year-old is a right-sided centre-back who plays for Sporting CP in Portugal, and is attracting interest from clubs in the Premier League with his performances.

He is on Newcastle’s radar, with Toon scouts going to watch Diomande when he played for Sporting against Benfica on November 12th.

Hopefully they were impressed, as Diomande is a player who has been tipped to go right to the top.

What has been said about Ousmane Diomande

The Ivorian previously played for Portuguese side Mafra on loan, where he was managed by Ricardo Sousa.

His former manager has been waxing lyrical about Diomande, and spoke to O Jogo in Portugal about Newcastle’s interest in the defender.

“Diomande is one of those players you can’t miss,” he said.

“Shortly before he left for Sporting, Manchester City’s chief scout called me and, before that, someone from Arsenal had already spoken to the club.

So the recent interest from a club like Newcastle doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. Sporting, with all due respect, is just a stepping stone in Diomande’s career, he’ll end up playing in a league with another dimension.”

Sousa added: “He’s going to become one of the best centre-backs in the world, there’s no doubt about that.”

Newcastle will have to pay a lot of money for Diomande

According to Sousa, Diomande has the potential to go right to the top of the game. That should excite Newcastle, as the same has been said about Botman.

If the Magpies can pair them together, they could end up having the best centre-back partnership on the planet. That is a tantalising prospect, but one that will not come cheap.

Diomande is contracted at Sporting until 2027, having only just joined them in the summer. His deal does have a release clause, but activating it will set you back £70million.

If Newcastle want to sign Diomande, they will have to make him their most expensive signing ever – or hope to negotiate a lower price with Sporting.

Given the fees involved, it surely rules out a move in January. If Newcastle do decide that they want to sign Diomande, it will probably have to wait until the summer.