Birmingham City manager Harry Redknapp has made his fourth signing of the summer as midfielder Cheikh N'Doye joined the club from Ligue 1 side Angers on a free transfer. 

The Blues will now be looking to secure further additions in this transfer window to ensure they enjoy a much better campaign in the upcoming season to what they experienced last time out as they flirted with potential relegation to League One

An experienced addition

N'Doye arrives at St Andrew's as a very experienced midfielder and could prove very valuable to Redknapp's squad next season. The Blues lacked a strong defensive midfielder throughout the last campaign and N'Doye could be the player to fill that role. 

The 31-year-old began his career in France with Epinal. During a successful three-year spell at the club, he scored 17 goals in 72 appearances. This led to a move to US Crétil who he also had a successful spell with. He made a whopping 107 appearances for the club and scored 32 goals in the process. 

N'Doye has impressed during his time in France. (picture: Getty Images / Vincent Michel)
N'Doye has impressed during his time in France. (picture: Getty Images / Vincent Michel)

He finally got the chance to test himself in France's top flight in 2015 as he made the move to Angers. He went on to make 65 appearances for the club, finding the back of the net 14 times as he continued to impress. He captained his side in the French Cup final last season where Angers were eventually beaten by French giants Paris Saint-Germain

The midfielder also has experience on the international stage with Senegal. He made his debut for his country in 2014 and has since gone on to make 17 appearances and has scored two goals during this time.

Redknapp works his magic once again

The capture of N'Doye by Birmingham is being viewed as a significant coup by many considering he actually turned down a new deal at Angers before making the move. Redknapp was clearly very persuasive and managed to see off what you would expect was significant competition in order to secure his signature including interest from China

Redknapp told Birmingham's official site that he was delighted to get the deal over the line after putting in a considerable amount of hard work. He said: "He's an imposing figure. Big, strong, aggressive - and he can play. I like him. I think he's going to be a big asset to us. We have been chasing him for quite a while. It's dragged on a bit, but we're delighted to have got him."

N'Doye has become Birmingham's fourth signing of the summer as he joins the likes of David Stockdale, Marc Roberts and Craig Gardner who have all already arrived at the club. However, Redknapp hopes that this does not signal the end of the club's business before the season gets underway.

He said: "Hopefully there will be more coming in. We are still looking to improve the squad, we are trying. The lads here have done well. I've been pleased with them. They've worked hard and we've got some good players. But hopefully there will be one or two more to come in to give us a stronger squad."

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About the author
Sam Straw
VAVEL Championship Editor. Journalism Student at The University of Sheffield. Nottingham Forest Season-Ticket Holder. Contributing to VAVEL UK since October 2016.