A move for Diomandé has proven difficult to close despite Nottingham Forest reportedly reaching advanced stages of talks with Sporting, with the release clause quoted at anywhere from £68m to £69m acting as a persistent obstacle.
Lucumí, out of contract at Bologna in 2027 after the club failed to tie him to fresh terms once a switch to Sunderland collapsed last summer, offers Oliver Glasner a fallback option with genuine World Cup pedigree, having featured for Colombia at the tournament before their round-of-16 exit on penalties.
Bologna are also said to have privately assured Lucumí a year ago that they would sanction a sale this summer in exchange for him staying put through last season.
Forest's interest in Lucumí is not new — Sport Witness has tracked their pursuit for some time, even as rival suitors piled in. What has changed, according to TuttoSport, is the release clause itself: the €28m figure has now lapsed, leaving Bologna free to set their own asking price of around €25m.
A €17m offer from Juventus has already been knocked back, and with Lucumí drawing interest from several directions, Bologna's ownership under Joey Saputo believe they can hold out for more, aided by the goodwill Forest built with the Rossoblù last summer when they paid roughly €40m for Dan Ndoye.
Forest have since tabled €20m plus add-ons for Lucumí, a package Bologna are believed willing to accept. The sticking point is the player: Lucumí would rather join Juventus, who along with Inter Milan have tracked him for months, and has already turned down interest from Como.
He made 43 appearances across all competitions for Bologna last season, and Glasner's staff regard his experience and left-sided profile as a close match for what Diomandé would have offered had that deal gone through.