New loan signing Toumani Diagouraga says he’s delighted to have joined the Blues for the remainder of the season and hopes to help them climb the table during his time at Portman Road. The 29-year-old old Leeds midfielder’s move to Town was confirmed earlier in the week.

"I'm very happy, very delighted to get the deal done and I'm just pleased to be here now," he told Ipswich Player HD.

"It's a move that happened pretty quickly as I only heard about the interest at the end of last week, but I'm looking forward to getting started and playing some football now.

"The manager has said he wants me to come in and help the team, play my best and help the side climb up the table. That is exactly what we need to do and I'll be looking to play my part in that respect.

"I'm ready to play and hopefully I can come in, get some game-time and help the team straight away. I haven't played for a while with Leeds but I'm focused on Ipswich now and enjoying myself here.”

📹 | Midfielder @toums20 has said he's come to Portman Road to help #itfc 'climb the table' and is itching to get out on the pitch... pic.twitter.com/FwksPKCv1R

— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) January 25, 2017

Born in Paris of Malian descent, Diagouraga played youth football with Paris St Germain before moving on to Watford, where he made a handful of appearances and spent time on loan with Swindon, Rotherham and Hereford, who he joined on a permanent basis in 2008.

Spells with Peterborough, Brentford and Portsmouth (loan) followed, before he joined Leeds last January.

He went on to made 14 starts and 16 sub appearances for the Whites, scoring three goals, but his only game this season was the 3-0 defeat at QPR on the opening day of the campaign.

The 6ft 2in tall midfielder, who is contracted to Leeds until the summer of 2018, is surplus to requirements at Elland Road and had been close to a loan move to Rotherham, but that deal broke down last week.

Diagouraga, who was the Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year in their 2014/15 Championship play-off campaign, has been handed the Town number 37 shirt.

Photo: ITFC

jas0999 added 15:38 - Jan 25 Good luck to him. Hope he does well for us.
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hoppy added 15:45 - Jan 25 I'm glad they found a better place to photograph him rather than the tatty looking wall we usually see them against. That looks quite presentable - Simon Clegg would approve of that paint job. Oh, and yes, welcome to the club. You can't have Toumani decent midfielders if it means others can take a rest now... no names mentioned.
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Pencilpete added 16:00 - Jan 25 I can't wait to see a midfield trio of him, Skuse and Douglas playing together which is clearly what MM isgoing to do now
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PortmanTerrorist added 16:03 - Jan 25 Glad to welcome Toumani. Does though look like it is a move which contradicts MM/ME's plan. Presume therefore they taking the possibility of relegation seriously. And they should, as I don't agree there are 3 worse sides in the league at present. Let's get safe and then the focus will be on Mr Evans. Where do we go from here....does he know or care? Time will tell, though many on here have already decided on that, and maybe the thought of League 1 football and the financial implications of that, and indeed the possibility of continuing to drop, might just spook him into action. Spend or sell ME - status quo is not an option.

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TCisdynamite added 16:07 - Jan 25 lets hope he plays as ugly as he looks....
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Radlett_blue added 16:32 - Jan 25 Well, I presume he's come here as he wants to play football rather than sit on his backside at Leeds, which is positive. Hard to see him being anywhere near match fit though.
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Superfrans added 16:34 - Jan 25 Amazing accent. What is that? Bit of Yorkshire, bit of Mali. Once there's a bit of Suffolk twang, it'll be proper.
4

cat added 17:10 - Jan 25 I'm well pleased with this addition, he should add a bit of bite to the midfield and hopefully a few goals. Good luck fella
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portman_blue added 17:49 - Jan 25 My Leeds-supporting nephew rates him and has been surprised that he's not played more this season. Good Luck to him (and us!!)
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woohoo added 18:21 - Jan 25 Welcome aboard mate. Hope you brought your tin-hat!
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Vizslaraner added 18:35 - Jan 25 We desperately need a lift so I hope it works out and you make a big impact.
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carsey added 19:04 - Jan 25 I know nothing about the lad but wish him well. I am a bit concerned he was liked at Brentford. Wasn't a certain Jonathan Douglas thought well of by their supporters?
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bbg added 19:10 - Jan 25 I hope he goes straight into the team, along with Moore and Spence. The abuse given to Douglas, Skuse, Chambers, etc is unwarranted, all are decent championship players and have records which prove that, whatever their detractors say. Facts dont lie, we didn't get to a championship play-off semi-final with hopeless players or management. Some people need to face a reality that it's unlikely in our lifetime that we will again see players of Muhren's or Thijssen's class in a Town shirt, or if we do they will be borrowed from elsewhere. It's a reality that we cannot afford even top championship players and therefore cannot hope to outplay the majority of Championship teams. That means we need to find different ways to win, and in our circumstances I personally dont care how we win. I think this player could very well fit in, giving the aggression we need add some football ability also. I am afraid none of our youth players, with the possible exception of Kenlock, are ready for the championship. Emmanuel, though a powerful player, makes too many wrong choices at the back for me and could do with a run of games in League 1 or 2. He might get them there with us if people dont calm down and see the big picture. Other clubs have parachute payments and/or a sugar daddy, we dont.

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WeWereZombies added 19:17 - Jan 25 Echoing Superfrans I am astonished at how quickly he has picked up the West Yorkshire accent, clear evidence of a quick thinker and I commend him to you for this year's Jan Molby cultural assimilation award.
3

KiwiBlue2 added 20:54 - Jan 25 Well lets see how he goes. Just hope that MM does not play him, Scuse and Douglas in the same line up. Encouraging endorsement by Keiron of Tristan. He seems to have exactly what we need in central midfield. Questions are when will he be tried and how many consecutive games could he play - certainly one for a run this season and the future. I would still like us to be spending a substantial sum on a proven cm playmaker ideally about 26/27 one who has a bit of bite, can hold the ball and pick a pass and put a bit of oomph into his tackles...... as I have said before regarding strikers they are 2nd or 3rd priority behind central midfield as until cm is sorted our strikers are not going to get any service and we will have a continuation of what we have seen this season. Having a decent midfield might encourage a change in focus from MM of stopping the other team playing to us actually playing and others having to stop us.....

1

Warkys_Tash added 21:06 - Jan 25 Could provide the steel & engine our midfield need right now. Let's all get behind him, he might just save us. Welcome onboard, Toumani.
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Dissboyitfc added 21:14 - Jan 25 bbg.. we got to the play-offs because of murphy's goals, any team would reach the play-offs with that amount of goals. Douglas is not a decent Championship player any more and if you want to quote facts, look at how many games we have won with Douglas in the side. Chambers is most certainly not a decent championship RB, skuse is an average championship player no more. I do agree that no player should get abuse. And the way MM has us playing we are a below average championship side! We would do better with that squad under a new manager. MM out!!!!!!

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BlueandwhiteWizard added 21:28 - Jan 25 A good friend of mine is a Brentford season ticket holder and genuinely laughed out loud when he heard we had reunited Douglas and Diagouraga.. says it all. I have nothing against this guy but i just dont understand our strategy. What is the plan? What does he bring that we need? Quite simply I am underwhelmed, frustated and hugely disappointed with the club's ambition. It's not easy being a town fan at the moment.

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runningout added 21:45 - Jan 25 iffy views from his Leeds and Brentford days... Not wowed one iota
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blueblood_soldier added 21:53 - Jan 25 He was good for Brentford in that season and has just fell out of favour at Leeds... we all know what some managers are like with their favourites!! BEST of luck to him.. good addition in my opinion.
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Taricco_Fan added 22:11 - Jan 25 Good luck mate.
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brianbull added 23:48 - Jan 25 BlueandwhiteWizard - what ambition?
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TimmyH added 11:06 - Jan 26 All I can say is that a lot of water has passed under the bridge since the 2014/15 play-off season for both us and Brentford and players who played in that season (you just have to look at a few of ours) - lets just hope he doesn't fit into that bracket! All the best though Toumani...anybody else thinking that Mick's hoping he'll do a job like Guirane N'Daw?
1

Garv added 15:41 - Jan 26 All the vague non answers you can expect from a footballer.
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