Ashton's delight at securing record deal

Wednesday, June 28th 2017

Mark Ashton says the club record £5.3m signing of Famara Diédhiou has been a real "team effort".

The club's chief executive officer has welcomed two news faces to Ashton Gate in the past 48 hours, with Italian defender Eros Pisano quickly being followed into BS3 by Diédhiou.

There was plenty of interest in the Senegalese striker from other English clubs and abroad, but Ashton says the work of everyone behind the scenes at Ashton Gate was the key to getting the deal over the line.

He also took time to thank owner Steve Lansdown for backing the deal.

Ashton said: “It’s big business and hopefully he’ll be a big player for this football club.

“He’s someone we’d identified a while ago as having real potential to fill the frontman’s shoes. We’ve had Kodjia and Tammy (Abraham) who have done well for us in the last two seasons, so we were aware we needed to replace them and get goals into the team."

“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."

Chief executive officer Mark Ashton

He added: “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.

“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.”