Oumar Diakité
First reported: 17th July
Stade de Reims forward Oumar Diakité was linked with City by Mathilda Foot, which claimed the Imps were close to signing him for around €3 million. The 22-year-old Ivory Coast international began his career with ASEC Mimosas before joining Red Bull Salzburg and scoring 12 league goals for Liefering, earning a permanent move to Reims in 2023. Diakité later spent the 2025/26 campaign on loan with Cercle Brugge, while his international career included winning the Africa Cup of Nations and representing Ivory Coast at the 2026 World Cup.
Jez George subsequently confirmed that City held extensive discussions over Diakité and reached the point where a deal appeared possible, only for the player to change his representative. He later ended up in Austria with Sturm Graz.
“For us, it was a small, finite moment in time when we could have done the deal. We couldn’t, the parameters changed and we moved on.
“The player ended up going to a different country on deadline day. It was an interesting experience and one we, at one point, thought we could get over the line. But as soon as the financial parameters changed, we were out.”
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