Reports suggest Rangers midfielder Mohamed Diomande is attracting serious interest from the English Premier League, with Everton reportedly monitoring the Ibrox star ahead of a potential summer move.
The 23-year-old Ivorian international only arrived at Ibrox last January from FC Nordsjælland, initially on loan before the club triggered a mandatory permanent deal worth around £4.5 million this time last summer.
But his impressive adaptation to Scottish football and eye-catching performances in midfield, particularly in Europe haven’t gone unnoticed south of the border.
Everton, who are expected to reshape their squad this summer under David Moyes, in his first pre-season since his return to Merseyside, are believed to have identified Diomande as a player with significant upside.
The Blues are targeting energetic, athletic midfielders capable of making an impact in and out of possession, and Diomande fits that profile.
While no formal offer has been made, Inside Ibrox understands that Diomande is firmly on Everton’s radar. We, however, are under no pressure to sell, with the midfielder still having three more years on his deal.
It would take a substantial bid to tempt the Ibrox hierarchy into doing business.
With reports suggesting that Nico Raskin may be on the way out of Ibrox then surely the club wont risk losing both of their best midfielders. We as fans understand this new board will want to get the player trading model underway, but the risk surely outweighs the reward letting both of our standout centre midfielders leave in the same window.
With Tom Lawrence and Ianis Hagi already out the door, along with Cole McKinnon we are lacking in depth within the centre of midfield.
Nedim Bajrami and José Cifuentes will both surely depart this window as well meaning we need to be adding to the position heftily as it is, and losing both Raskin and Dio would leave us with simply too much to do.
The likes of Connor Barron, Bailey Rice and Lyall Cameron are all good squad options but none would or should be considered guaranteed starters for the upcoming season.
Raskin is primed to be sold, off the back of his best season so far with us and with only two years left on his deal, he is the one of the two who should go this summer if we must lose one, unless he pens a new deal of course.
Diomande should be allowed to flourish in a stronger post-takeover Gers team under a new progressive head coach and hopefully his value will be higher a year down the line and we will be in the position we currently find ourselves in with Raskin with him too.
Of course we want the strongest team possible and on the flip side every player of course has their price but we should be holding off on losing Dio this summer as he has some of the highest potential to grow in the upcoming season from the current crop.