Arsenal are watching Ousmane Diomande closely as he plays at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast, according to a report.

Portuguese outlet Record report that Chelsea and Arsenal are very attentive to Ousmane Diomande as he begins his participation in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Diomande helped the Ivory Coast to a clean sheet as they won against Guinea Bissau in their opening group game, and the hosts of the tournament are set to take on Nigeria next.

Ahead of the winter window, Chelsea appeared to be in the lead for Diomande, with the Evening Standard claiming the Blues had made contact with Sporting after identifying Diomande as one of their primary transfer targets.

But Sporting knocked back that initial enquiry, insisting they’ll only sell the player for his €80m (£69.4m) release clause.

Midtjylland have a 20% sell-on clause in Diomande’s contract, which is perhaps a motivating factor for the Portuguese club to make sure they bring in as much money as possible.

But perhaps Sporting are also hoping that the competition for Diomande’s signature will push Chelsea to pay a high price, given the links to Arsenal as well.

Having only signed for Sporting last January, Diomande already has a deal lasting until 2027. But the club are already trying to extend that deal.

Diomande turned 20 recently, so he’s still very much at the beginning of his senior career. Yet he’s already made his senior international debut for the Ivory Coast, and he’s made over 50 club appearances in first-team football.

Those 50 appearances include two against Arsenal, when he helped Sporting to secure a penalty shoot-out victory over the Gunners in last season’s Europa League.

The Gunners were linked with the youngster all year, and it was reportedly largely due to Brexit complications that they didn’t sign him before he even joined Sporting.