Turner puts faith in Diagouraga

The announcement of a three year deal for Toumani Diagouraga by Hereford United manager Graham Turner earlier this week suggests the French midfielder is expected to move up the Football League before his contract is over.

Diagouraga's signing was always on the cards after Watford told Turner he could have first chance of signing him as part of the agreement to sell Lionel Ainsworth to the Hornets.

Seldom does Turner agree such long deals. The last one was a two and a half year deal with Ben Smith when he moved back to Edgar Street from Weymouth for a second spell. Turner even paid a fee reputed to be about £25,000 for Smith.

The previous longest deal was for Steve Piearce. Turner plucked him from Halesowen in July 1999 after he had scored 48 goals in two seasons but he failed to live up to his reputation with the Bulls and was released after three seasons. In that time he made just 33 appearances and managed only eight goals.

Diagouraga's signing comes after a very successful season long loan spell at Edgar Street.

"He's got all the potential to be a very good midfielder, but there is a lot more to come from him yet," said Turner as reported by the Western Daily Press.

"Our aim now is to keep the momentum going. We've already proved that we can beat clubs like Leeds and Tranmere Rovers (in the FA Cup last season)," said Diagouraga.

"It was a thrill to score my first league goal, against Bradford City, last season and hopefully I will manage to get a few more at the higher level."

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