Coach Jorge Silas hopes not to lose the player in the January market
• Photo: David Cabral Santos
He has been a standout in the 2nd League, despite being only 19 years old. Ousmane Diao is Mafra’s most used player, with 18 games and one goal, and there is already talk of him strengthening Sporting’s defense, imitating Diomande’s steps. The Senegalese central defender is in his second season at the West club, where he arrived via Midtjylland, having subsequently signed with the Saloiano club until June 2028.
Ricardo Sousa, Feirense’s current coach, worked with the two central defenders at Mafra last season and was the one who launched them, so he speaks with knowledge. “They are two players of enormous quality, although with different characteristics. Diomande, when he arrived, was an uncut diamond. Powerful, with great athleticism, which immediately made him a standout player in individual duels”, recalls Ricardo Sousa, speaking after Diao: “He has more school, is more enlightened and has already arrived in Mafra with ‘homework’. Despite being very young, he progresses with discretion from the first to the second phase of construction. Compared to Diomande’s arrival at Mafra , he is also a more evolved player at a tactical level.”
For all this, the now Feirense coach has no doubt that the Mafra central defender can go as far as Diomande, especially because he has something else going for him. “He is extremely versatile, fast and plays the right-back, central and defensive midfield positions with quality”, reveals the coach, finishing: “They are, without a doubt, two players with quality well above average. I believe that Diao will arrive briefly reach the level where Diomande has already reached.”
The 2022/23 season is marked as the first of the two central teams at the highest level. Diomande, currently at Sporting, made his debut as a starter, at the time with general surprise, at the opening of the 2nd League, in Oliveira de Azeméis (1-3 defeat) and the truth is that 17 games were enough for the Costa -Ivorian took the leap to Alvalade.
By coincidence, if Diomande made his debut at the opening of the season, Diao took over the starting line-up in the 18th round, the first of the second round, exactly against the Oliveira de Azeméis team, again with Oliveirense’s victory, this time by 3-2, having since assumed ownership of the Mafrense team.
Jorge Silas hopes not to lose him yet
For Jorge Silas, Mafra’s coach, the possibility of being without Diao in the January market, something that could happen, will be bad news. “Honestly, I hope I don’t lose it in January. Of course, one of my obligations is to help players improve their lives at a sporting and financial level. On the other hand, I also have to think a little about us, and my wish is that he can wait another 6 months before leaving Mafra”, he said.
He has been a standout in the 2nd League, despite being only 19 years old. Ousmane Diao is Mafra’s most used player, with 18 games and one goal, and there is already talk of him strengthening Sporting’s defense, imitating Diomande’s steps…
By Rui Jorge Cabaço
2023-12-18 20:31:00
#Central #Diao #imitate #Diomande #exchange #Mafra #Sporting #Mafra #Jornal #Record
