PHILIPPE Clement has held talks with Mohamed Diomande about his international future and expressed confidence the dilemma the Rangers midfielder is currently wrestling with will not adversely affect his form for the Ibrox club.

Diomande has established himself as a regular in Clement’s side since completing a move from Nordsjaelland in Denmark to Govan back in January – and his bright performances domestically and in Europe have caught the attention of both Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

The 22-year- old was born in the Ivory Coast and played for their under-23 team in a match against Morocco last year. However, he was brought up in Ghana, where he attended the renowned Right to Dream academy, and has a Ghanian passport.

He was called up by both the Ivorian Under-23 side and the full Ghanian team before their international friendlies last month – but he did not join up with either squad.

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The player, who will complete a £4.3m transfer to Rangers at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, wore an Ivorian strip in to training at Auchenhowie after his homeland beat Nigeria in the African Cup of Nations final back in February and looks set to pledge his international future to them. 

But he has spoken to Clement, whose team take on Celtic in a cinch Premiership game at Ibrox on Saturday, about the huge call he has to make and the Belgian is optimistic his signing will remain fully focused on football during the Scottish title run-in.

The Herald: “I’m not giving advice on the choice, but, of course, I’ve talked with him,” he said. “They are all like my children. He came in himself to talk about it. It’s a difficult decision. I understand all the things that he explained and that’s between us also. 

“It’s about him at the end to make a decision. So he can take advice off 1,000 people, but at the end he needs to make a decision for himself. He has some time now to do it, but he’s focused on Rangers now, that’s the most important thing.” 

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Clement added: “The fact two countries want him shows his quality. Like we said in January when he came in, he’s still a young player, but one with a really bright future. 

“We will see what decision he’s going to make around the national team. Because it’s a decisive decision. Once you make it, it’s for life. 

“It’s not an easy one, not when family and all of those things are involved. But he has a little bit more time to think now. But I hope he first thinks about Rangers.”