Arsenal and Chelsea scouting superstar defender at AFCON ahead of January deadline

Chelsea and Arsenal are keen to bolster their defensive options in the January transfer window - to do so, the London rivals may pursue a move for Sporting CP centre-back Ousmane Diomande, who they are both scouting while he represents Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations.

This has been reported by Portuguese outlet Record, who say that both the Gunners and the Blues are 'very attentive' where Ousmane's progress is concerned. The AFCON kicked off on Saturday, January 13, with Ivory Coast hosting the tournament. In the opening game of the competition, the Elephants defeated Guinea-Bissau by a score of 2-0 - Diomande played 77 minutes of the contest, before he was substituted for Nottingham Forest's Willy Boly.

Who else is interested in a move for Ousmane Diomande?

Touted as one of the best young centre-backs in world football, interest in Diomande is naturally very high. Clubs in the Premier League, such as Newcastle United and Liverpool, are also believed to be monitoring the player's progress. The moment any of these clubs makes an official approach, it is likely to spark a major bidding war.

Liverpool and Arsenal may struggle to match the financial muscle of Chelsea and Newcastle, however. The Blues have become infamous for their extravagant spending since the arrival of Todd Boehly, while Newcastle are currently one of the richest clubs on the planet. Arsenal's budget is understood to be limited after a high-spending summer transfer window, while Liverpool's riches are simply not quite as vast as the other clubs in the conversation.

With a minimum fee release clause of around £69 million, Diomande will be an extremely expensive. Should any club choose to activate this, it would make the Ivorian the 7th most expensive defender of all time, with only players such as Josko Gvardiol, Matthijs de Ligt and Virgil van Dijk commanding sterner fees.