Transfer Rumours TRANSFERS in and out RUMOURMONGERING

2 DAYS LATER than expected but nonetheless SPOT ON
City have secured the signing of Angers SCO and Senegal striker Famara Diédhiou for a club record fee of £5.3m.
The club has eclipsed its previous transfer record of £3.25m, ironically spent on Jonathan Kodjia from the same French Ligue 1 club in 2015.

Diédhiou, 24, has penned a four-year contract at Ashton Gate after City beat off competition from other clubs for his signature.

Head coach Lee Johnson said: “I’m absolutely delighted. I think he’s going to be a huge player for us.

“He fits the bill for us because he’ll complement all of our strikers perfectly. He’s powerful, he’s quick and I think he’s got the potential to get even bigger and stronger physically.

“The beauty is that now is his time to shine. He’s a goalscorer in that he gets into good areas and can score different types of goals – volleys, headers and he’s got an attitude to shoot, which is what we’re after.

“I think we can work with him and improve him, which is exciting for me because he’s a raw talent who can go as far as he wants in football.”

He added: “Obviously it’s our record signing, which is amazing. Thank you to Steve, the Board and everybody involved in making the decisions, particularly how well Mark (Ashton) has done in this process because it’s never easy to bring in a player when the competition is so high.”

He was one of a number City were alledgedly chasing in France at start of close season ( as I stated on my May 30th post, the most likely ) ... winger is likely to be next? preference over a goal keeper!

 

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• City’s chief executive officer Mark Ashton said: “It’s big business and hopefully he’ll be a big player for this football club.
  
  “The transfer smashes our previous record and I think it’s a sign of intent that the club wants to move forward. I’d like to thank Angers for their professionalism and cooperation throughout this deal.
  
  “From our end, it’s not just me and it’s not just Lee. There’s a group of people in regards to recruitment; analysis, PR, media and contractual who have all worked behind the scenes on this for about a month now to try to get this deal done.
  
  “I’m delighted for everyone who has put such a shift in to doing this, but I also can’t say thank you enough to the Lansdown family for supporting the football club when we’ve asked. That needs to be recognised because this is a big transfer. I’m hoping he’ll reward that with goals.
  
  “Following the signing of Eros Pisano, who I think will be a really good signing for us at right-back, I’m hoping Diédhiou will give us another real boost.”

"He’s powerful, he’s quick and I think he’s got the potential to get even bigger and stronger physically."
Head coach Lee Johnson
Diédhiou has risen through the leagues in France after starting out at ASM Belfort and then Epinal.

He has scored goals wherever he has played, notably netting 22 times in 37 appearances during a loan spell at Clermont in 2015/16 to land the Ligue 2 golden boot and Player of the Year awards, which prompted Angers to pay £1.36m for his services.

Diédhiou’s first season in Ligue 1 saw him score nine times in 36 appearances, with Angers reaching the Coupe de France final for the second time in their history.

The last player to make the switch from Angers to City was Kodjia two years ago. He went on to score 20 times in 48 appearances, with Aston Villa paying a Championship record fee of £15m to sign him 12 months later.

Diédhiou, who has scored once in six appearances for his country, will now be looking to write his own story in BS3.
From city website, more handsome than Kodger

 

possible a third signing will be announced in the next 2-3 days and maybe 1 for the future rather than now ...........

 

apparently 1 deal fallen through ..almost!....Famara was said to be only 75% and signed that day! and another/s still being worked on one a signing and the other a loan.

 

TO BE HONEST the few rumours I was akin with have been disappointing, although Famara was a bit of a scoop!... the past weeks activity seems to have dulled a lot and the enthusiasm is somewhat muted .. for a signing and a loan .. although not dead "he who hesitates can some be the loser?"

 

Fulham keeper too have or have not

 

Bristol City have confirmed they are looking at out-of-contract Wycombe Wanderers defender Aaron Pierre.
The 24-year-old centre-back has been offered "improved" terms at the League Two Chairboys but is yet to extend his stay at Adams Park.
Pierre has played 149 times for Wycombe since joining from Brentford in 2014 but has spent the last week on trial at Lee Johnson's Championship side.
He is set to feature in their friendly against Guernsey FC on Saturday.
Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth previously described Pierre, who has been capped four times by Grenada at international level, as "probably the best centre-half in League Two".

 

probably the best centre-half in League Two

Worries me slightly when we are potentially asking players to make a 2 division jump

 

Me too. We need to look at seasoned players with hopefully higher league experience and for some unknown reason I expect an attitude problem, however he could just be looking at improving himself at a higher level - who knows?

 

Just remind me, where did Flint come from?

 

Flint is by no means the finished article

 

But still worth about 4 million when we snapped him up from lowly Swindle for £350k.

 

Yep agree on that.

 

Also, Swindon were in the same league as us at that time so it wasn't a 2-div leap.

It has been done though - Charlie Austin from non-league to Swindon (L1) then up to the Prem and England.

Deli Ali from MK Dons (L1) to Tottenham and England.

Luke Vardy too!!!

 

Would you rather have a 24 year old 'on the up' or a 24 year old coming down from the Prem etc.

 

The difference is Flint was at a team in the same division, this guy would have to step up 2 levels to a club where a large section of fans will destroy him if he can't!!

My biggest concern was the comment from his former manager who ONCE dubbed him ' as probably the best CB in L2', which suggests he doesn't anymore. I wonder why?

 

I agree Banksy - but it has also been done that way around too - Andy Cole?

 

Agree that being a League 2 player doesn't automatically mean they can't cut it at a higher level. Charlie Austib was the same example I thought of & there are many others. Wycombe gave Tottenham a right scare in the Cup last year.

 

Quite agree.. We really don't know until the player has put our shirt on and been tried out.

Too may of our fans write off potential players without either any knowledge of the player or the patience to give them a try. He's not gonna cost a lot is he?

 

a lot of big money foreign imports into the championship ! a lot of teams holding on to players.. is this due to the new 2 transfer windows and loans only twice a year?
last week of transfer season could see a lot of players "out on loan or dumped" ....