Bristol City will hope for a Kodjia or Diedhiou 2.0 as French transfer links emerge: View | OneFootball

Robins target Lassine Sinayoko could be the newest striker to join from France and flourish

Highlights

Bristol City are no strangers to a relatively unknown striker arriving from the French leagues and becoming a cult hero at Ashton Gate.

The Robins signed Jonathan Kodjia from Ligue 2 side Angers in the summer of 2015 and he was prolific in his only season at the club before netting them a huge profit as he moved on to Aston Villa.

Famara Diedhiou was the latest Angers export to arrive in BS3 two years later and the Senegalese international went on to become a fan-favourite in his fruitful four-year spell at Ashton Gate.

Fast-forward to 2024 and City are now reportedly tracking Lassine Sinayoko, another striker that plies his trade in France.

If he signs for the club this summer, boss Liam Manning and fans alike will hope that the 24-year-old can produce similar clinical performances to the two previous strikers that have followed the same path.

Lassine Sinayoko to Bristol City transfer latest

Bristol City hold an interest in signing the AJ Auxerre striker in the summer transfer window, according to Bristol Live.

The report suggests that French journalist Samir Djabali's initial claims that City had made an offer of €2.5-3m for the Malian international are reportedly wide of the mark, with the Robins refusing to bid until Auxerre's £4m asking price has been lowered.

The 24-year-old has spent his whole career so far at AJA, and registered eight goals and five assists in 37 games for the club as they won the French second division title last season.

Robins' technical director Brian Tinnion has previously indicated that their pursuit of a new number nine this summer is likely to lead them to recruit outside of England and Sinayoko would be joining to provide a different option for Manning's side and competition for current strikers Tommy Conway, Nahki Wells and Harry Cornick.

Kodijia and Diedhiou were successful at Bristol City

Prior to his move, Kodjia won the Ligue 2 Player of the Year in 2015 and helped Angers gain promotion to the French top flight after finishing in 3rd place in his single season with Les Scoïstes.

He was signed by the Robins in July 2015 under then-boss Steve Cotterill for a fee of around £2m and soon set about carrying over his impressive form in England.

It was a tough season for the club, but Kodjia was prolific and netted 20 goals in 48 games in all competitions as they avoided relegation comfortably in 18th place, despite battling the drop for the majority of the season.

It took a club-record sale of £11m for Aston Villa to prise him away from Ashton Gate in August 2016 and despite only being at the club for one year, Kodjia wrote himself into Robins folklore for such an outstanding contribution to their survival effort.

Diedhiou similarly spent just one season with Angers in the year before his move to BS3, which came about in June 2017, as he signed a four-year contract for a club-record transfer fee of £5.3 million.

He netted double figures in the Championship in each of his first three seasons at the club, as the Robins fought around the play-off places each year but were never quite able to reach them come the end of the respective campaigns.

He became a hugely popular figure with Bristol City fans for his contributions – both in front of goal and elsewhere – and was another example of the Robins' impressive scouting in France paying dividends.

City are now linked with another striker that has scored goals in France, and supporters will hope that Sinayoko, if he does join the club this summer, can replicate both Kodjia and Diedhiou's feats at the club and fire them up the Championship table next season.

As well as on the pitch, if the Malian international could create the same bond with the fans off the pitch as both Kodjia and Diedhiou did in their stay at Ashton Gate, it would no doubt be another success story from France for the Robins.