Phil SumblerAnother player released by Bristol City and another Swansea City link is being made now as the Swans and Middlesbrough are both being reported as interested in securing the signature of free agent Famara Diedhiou.
Diedhiou was released from Ashton Gate at the end of last season after 4 years at Bristol City where he scored 51 times in 169 games.
It was a fairly acrimonious end for the striker at Ashton Gate last season after CEO Mark Ashton said there was a new deal on the table which was “one of the biggest contract offers that this football club has ever made” This was a statement denied by Diedhiou on Twitter when he claimed he always wanted to stay at Bristol City and effectively accused Ashton of (shall we say) ‘bending the truth’.
The contract situation started to play itself out in February when sky commentator Gary Weaver made reference during the TV coverage of their 2-0 defeat to Norwich “I was speaking to the Bristol City chief executive officer Mark Ashton today who told me that they’d made a number of offers to Famara Diedhiou,” said Weaver.
“Nothing’s agreed yet. The situation is fluid but they’re prepared to let him run down his contract and potentially leave for free in the summer.
“They can let that happen. If it does happen, then [they] will get the value out of him on the pitch for the rest of the season. That’s the way that it stands at the moment.”
Ashton himself followed that up a few days later when he said “There’s nothing more I’d like than for Famara to sign a new contract with this football club. I brought him in, let’s be clear.
“He has some things to sort out with his representatives. We made him an offer at the back end of the summer. That was one of the biggest contract offers that this football club has ever made to a player. Ever.
“We’ve offered all sorts of deals: long and short term, but we’ve not heard back yet.”
So no matter what happened what we do know now is that the player’s contract expired and, as a free agent, he would represent potentially good business for either the Swans or Middlesbrough as an addition to their squad.
The Swans have of course already added Kyle Joseph and Joel Piroe up front whilst Boro have added Sammy Ameobi following his release from Nottingham Forest.
Keep an eye on this one, I think there could be more to come in this story.
