Swindon Town Football Club are thrilled to announce that we have bolstered our midfield options with the signing of Toumani Diagouraga.
The vastly experienced midfielder has joined on a free transfer from Fleetwood Town and has put pen to paper on a two-year deal, subject to FA and EFL approval.
He becomes the club's seventh signing of the summer following the arrivals of Jermaine McGlashan, Steven Alzate, Luke McCormick, Martin Smith, Elijah Adebayo and Jak McCourt.
Diagouraga's addition represents quite a coup for the club with the 31-year-old having a wealth of EFL experience under his belt.
The French-born workhorse began his career in his homeland with the Paris Saint-Germain Academy, before being snapped up by Watford after being talent spotted by a Hornets scout.
He played a starring role in Watford's run to the Quarter-Finals of the 2004/05 FA Youth Cup, before making his first-team debut in a 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the League Cup on 20th September 2005.
His league debut followed in the December of that year and he went on to make four outings during the 2005/06 campaign.
Noted as a rising star, Diagouraga was sent out on loan to a number of clubs in order to gain valuable first-team experience, which included a stint at SN1 in 2006.
Once compared to Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, the all-action midfielder sealed a permanent transfer to Hereford United in August 2007, which was soon followed by a move to Peterborough United two years later.
But it was at Brentford where Toumani really made his name, racking up over 200 appearances for the Bees and helping the club secure promotion to the Championship in 2014.
He was announced as the club's Player of the Year the following season and he departed in 2016 as a Bees' icon, joining Leeds United on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
Diagouraga scored his first goal for the club during an FA Cup victory over Bolton Wanderers, and he would add two more to that total before moving on to pastures new.
Having recently had spells with Ipswich Town, Plymouth Argyle and Fleetwood Town, the 6ft 2in defensive midfielder will now look to add another promotion to his CV as he embarks on a new challenge with the Reds.
"I'm delighted - it is one we have been working on for a while."
"I'm very happy," he told swindontownfc.co.uk.
"I met the manager on Sunday and it went from there.
"I'm here to help the team and I'm here to help the team be successful."
And Town Boss Phil Brown was delighted to have got his man after being given glowing reports on the player from people he knows well within the game.
"I'm delighted - it is one we have been working on for a while," he added.
"I've known Toumani for quite some time now as one of the opposition and he was always a constant thorn in the side in terms of the way he broke play up.
"He is a simple midfield player and quite often the simple side of the game is the most complicated part - he does it quite well.
"He was recommended to me by Uwe Rosler and Mark Warburton and they both speak highly of him."
