Brentford are lining up a January move for Real Betis winger Assane Diao.
The Bees wanted to sign another front-line player in the summer and Diao has emerged as a new target following his impressive breakthrough this term.
The 18-year-old made his Spain U21 debut in October and has scored four goals in 11 first-team appearances for Betis so far.
A right-footer who predominantly plays on the left, one of his goals came playing as a right-winger against Sparta Prague in the Europa League, capitalising on a mistake by the goalkeeper to put Betis ahead.
Diao is among several targets ahead of January that also still includes Johan Bakayoko at PSV Eindhoven, after Brentford tried to sign him right up until the deadline in August.
He has since been starring for the Dutch club in the Champions League, scoring against Lens, while he has also been of interest to other big clubs on the hunt for a new winger, including Tottenham.
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The Bees are considering whether to revive the Bakayoko deal or look elsewhere, so they have also been tracking Grenada’s 22-year-old winger Bryan Zaragoza.
Diao is emerging as a real talent for the future, however, and carries with him the attributes to be a potential long-term successor to Bryan Mbeumo, who is being tracked by bigger clubs.
Brentford may also look for cover at left-back due to the injury to first-choice Rico Henry, and potentially another attacking central-midfielder, although they are impressed with the development of Yegor Yarmolyuk.
As Sky Sports News reported earlier this month, Ivan Toney is likely to stay at least until the end of the season, with a whopping £100m price tag on his head.
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When does the January window open?
The transfer window opens on Monday January 1, 2024 and will close at 11pm on Thursday 1 February, 2024.
To ensure harmonisation with the major leagues in Europe, the closing dates were set following discussions with the EFL, DFL, Serie A, LaLiga, and LFP, who will all close their summer and winter windows on 1 September and 1 February respectively.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports’ digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.
