Portland Thorns target PSG and France star Diani

The 24-year-old has rejected her side's proposal of a new contract and the NWSL team is looking to take advantage

The Portland Thorns are targeting a move for and star Kadidiatou Diani.

As the 24-year-old has stalled on a contract extension with PSG, sources have told Goal that NWSL side Portland are looking to take advantage and move for the midfielder.

Diani's current deal with PSG expires at the end of the season and the player's entourage has rejected the club's proposal for a three-year extension.

That has encouraged the Thorns, who are looking to take advantage of new NWSL roster rules that make it easier for clubs to target foreign stars.

New for the 2020 season is the introduction of allocation money, which clubs can use to pay players more than the league maximum salary of $50,000.

Allocation money does not count toward the league's salary cap and also cannot be used on Canadian or U.S. national team players whose salaries are being paid by their respective federations.

That has freed up the Thorns to make an offer for Diani, which Goal sources say is worth up to $445,000 per year.

Diani has become a key figure for the France national team, playing in all five of the team's matches in the 2019 World Cup as they crashed out on home soil with a quarter-final defeat to the United States, the tournament's eventual champions.

At club level Diani, who can play through central midfield or out wide, has played a vital role for PSG as the capital side has finished as runner-up to perennial power in the past two seasons.

This season Diani has scored 10 goals in 15 appearances as PSG again sits second in the Division 1 Feminine standings behind Lyon.

Should she move to Portland, Diani wouldn't be the first France star to play for the Thorns, with her international team-mate Amandine Henry having played there between 2016 and 2017.

Portland, with stars like Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan and Christine Sinclair, has been one of the NWSL's most successful clubs in recent seasons.

The Thorns won the NWSL title in 2017 before finishing as runners-up in 2018 and then falling in the league semi-finals in 2019.