The Bristol City transfer with French club that did not have Diedhiou impact: View | OneFootball

Bristol City could not complete their Famara Diedhiou transfer trick a second time in 2017/18

The signing of Famara Diedhiou would prove to be an excellent piece of transfer business for Bristol City.

Back in the summer of 2017, the Robins completed the signing of Diedhiou from French side Angers, for a club record fee reported to be worth around £5.3million.

Having made that move to Ashton Gate, the striker wasted little time in making an impact in the Championship.

Despite being hampered by injury for several months of his first season in England, he still scored six goals and provided one assist in his first 17 appearances in all competitions for Bristol City.

Then, in the 2018 January transfer window, the Robins once again turned their attention to France, in order to add another striker to their ranks.

Bristol City's big deal for Lois Diony failed to have the desired effect

With around a week remaining in the January transfer window in 2018, Bristol City completed the loan signing of Lois Diony.

Like Diedhiou, the then 25-year-old arrived from France, moving on a temporary basis from Saint-Etienne.

As part of that move, it was reported that the Robins held the option to make the signing of Diony permanent, just a year after his parent club had signed him for £9 million from Dijon.

However, the Frenchman arrived having failed to score in 16 appearances in Ligue 1 for Saint-Etienne in the first half of the 2017/18 campaign.

In the end, it would prove to be a similary disappointing spell for Diony at Ashton Gate, as it had been for him at the start of the campaign in France.

Lois Diony could not replicate Famara Diedhiou's Bristol City form

Having made his move to Bristol City, the striker would endure a disappointing period with the Robins.

He made his debut for the club in the first match after his arrival, coming off the bench in a 2-0 win over QPR.

Diony was then again used as a substitute in three of the next four games, before eventually being handed his debut in a 1-0 defeat against Cardiff City.

The striker was substituted midway through the second half of that game, and would then make just two more substitute appearances for Bristol City.

During that total of seven outings for the club, Diony was unable to make much of an impression at all, failing to score or assist a single goal during those games.

It is telling that, having been an unused substitute in the next three games after his final appearance for the club, he did not even feature in matchday squad for the final six matches of the season, as Bristol City slipped out of play-off contention, and towards an 11th place finish.

Consequently, it is no surprise that the Robins did not take up their option to make Diony's loan move permanent in the summer of 2018.

Instead, the striker returned to France, where he has spent the vast majority of the remainder of his career, and is now playing for Angers.

By contrast, after the 2017/18, Diedhiou stayed at Bristol City until the summer of 2021, when he moved on following the expiration of his contract.

During his time at Ashton Gate, the striker produced a more than impressive return of 51 goals and nine assists in 169 appearances in all competitions for the Robins, ensuring he remains a popular figure at Bristol City to this day.

With that in mind, the signing of those two strikers from clubs in France for Bristol City during the 2017/18 season, could hardly have gone more differently.