Leeds open talks to sign £35m World Cup star

It is pretty much public knowledge at this point that Leeds United are exploring a deal to sign Ousmane Diomande from Sporting in the summer transfer window.

The Whites are hoping to land the £42m-rated centre-back from the Portuguese side and are reportedly in talks to strike a deal with them for his signature.

It could take a club-record fee to sign the Ivorian star, though, because a fee of £42m is more than the £35.5m that they paid Hoffenheim for Georginio Rutter in January 2023.

Diomande has won the Liga Portugal in two of the past three seasons and would arrive at Elland Road as a high-profile addition to Daniel Farke‘s squad, given his achievements with Sporting.

A deal will not be easy to complete, though, because he is currently at the World Cup with his country and strong performances at the tournament could increase the competition for his services.

Diomande was an unused substitute for his side’s 1-0 win over Ecuador in their first World Cup match earlier this month, but he may yet make an appearance in their other games.

Meanwhile, the club are reportedly looking at a deal for a player who has already played at the World Cup and who would be an even better signing than the Ivorian defender.

According to reports in Italy, Leeds United are one of the clubs eyeing up a deal to sign Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki in the summer transfer window.

The reporter claims that the Whites have made contact to enquire about the conditions of a potential transfer, ‘gathering information’ about what a deal could look like, thus suggesting talks have been held.

Longari adds that fellow Premier League side Aston Villa are also interested in signing the Japan international and have been sending scouts to watch him in action.

Meanwhile, TEAMtalk reports that Suzuki has a €40m (£35m) release clause in his current contract with Parma, which means that it could be a very expensive deal for the Whites to get done.

How Zion Suzuki would be a better signing than Ousmane Diomande for Leeds

The Japan international would be a better and even more impactful signing than Diomande for Leeds because of how much he would improve Farke’s team in his position.

Leeds already have several impressive centre-back options, in Joe Rodon, Pascal Struijk, and Jaka Bijol, but the goalkeeper position was up for debate at several points in the season.

Karl Darlow ended the campaign as the number one for the Whites ahead of Brazilian stopper Lucas Perri, and Suzuki would join as an upgrade on the Wales international.

In Japan’s 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, the 23-year-old goalkeeper prevented 0.16 xG worth of chances, despite conceding two goals, and did not make any errors on his debut at the World Cup.

His impressive performance for Japan came after he played 20 times in the Serie A for Parma in the 2025/26 campaign and kept seven clean sheets, averaging 3.30 saves per 90.

The Japanese star, who was described as “exciting” by scout Ben Mattinson, also averaged 0.60 sweeping actions and 1.45 crosses claimed per 90 for Parma, ranking in the top 29% or higher of goalkeepers in the league for both statistics.

Darlow, meanwhile, only averaged 2.86 saves and 0.77 high claims per 90 across his 22 appearances in the Premier League for Leeds, whilst keeping two clean sheets for the club.

These statistics suggest that Suzuki would prevent more goals for Leeds between the sticks because he makes more saves, claims more crosses, and keeps more clean sheets than the veteran Welshman.

Whereas, Diomande won a lower percentage of his ground duels (38%) than Rodon (64%) and made fewer clearances per game, fewer tackles and interceptions per game, and won fewer goals per game in comparison to the Leeds centre-back.

Therefore, Suzuki could be a better and more impactful signing than Diomande because he would come in as an instant upgrade on Darlow, whilst it remains to be seen if the Ivorian would be a huge upgrade on Rodon defensively.