Ruaidhri Higgins hoping Sadou Diallo accepts new Derry City deal

​Higgins believes Diallo offers his team something different in the midfield area given his ability to 'control matches' with his range of passing and at 24 years of age the City boss believes there's plenty of scope for improvement.

The former Man City youth last month told the 'Journal' his intention was to remain at the Brandywell club next season claiming it would be a 'silly decision' to leave given how much he's enjoyed his football.

Diallo said he wants to win silverware with Derry and is relishing the opportunity to play European football.

"Whether that's the cup, going as far as you can in Europe or winning the league, that's something I really want to achieve here."

The player has recently returned from a short end of season holiday in Spain with the rest of the Derry squad and Higgins is hopeful a contract can be signed soon.

"Diallo I'm hopeful, without taking anything for granted, that we can keep him. We've made him a good offer to stay," he revealed.

"I think the last 18 months since he's come in he's given us a real lift when he came in that summer and our form improved from in and around the time he came in," said Higgins.

"He's had a really good impact at the club. He's 24, a brilliant age and is only going to get better. I think we've seen real improvement in him and I think he's different from other midfield players we have where he likes to control matches with his passing and gives us continuity as a team.

"He will only get better and hopefully - nothing is signed or sealed - but I'm hoping he will extend his stay here. We've made him a good offer and he knows we really want him here. Obviously the final decision is down to him now."

Ciaran Coll and Ciaron Harkin both signed new one year deals to remain at the Brandywell club while Cian Kavanagh was deemed surplus to requirements. Higgins has some other loose ends to tie up in the coming days but should anyone come in for any of his players under contract, the City supremo insists a premium would need to be paid.

The decision to offer long term deals to players when Higgins arrived through the door has paid dividends and the Limavady man believes the club are in a much stronger position for it.

"If anyone wants to take our players they'll have to pay the premium, especially our younger players. I made it very clear when I first came in that this was the way it had to be (long term contracts) and we're seeing the benefits from it now.

"If a lot of our players were available then they would be getting offers left right and centre so I think we've done good work over the last couple of years giving the club and the squad continuity. We're not going into a new season needing eight, nine, 10 or 15 players the way it used to be.

"A lot of the clubs are the same. You look at 90 per cent of the top end players in the league and they're all under contract and you can't get near them. That's the way it has to go and I think the league has made major leaps forward in that sense.

"Shels are doing it now, Bohs are doing it, Dundlak have done it and still have a good few under contract. Rovers have done it for a long time. Pat's, they're all tying their players down to longer term deals so it's harder to get those type of players which has, in the long terms, made the league more competitive which you're seeing now.

"A lot of our players have young families and it's really important they have that security. Our club has been good in doing that. We're going into a new seaosn with probably the most continuity that we had because we're probably only going to sign three players.

"It's been a long time since the club has gone into a new season needing only a few players which is great for me."

Several players will be out of contract at the end of next season and while Higgins expects to engage in talks about extending deals soon, the priority for now is building towards 2024.

"That's not the priority at the minute. The priority is recruiting and once we've done that we might look at that and see what happens."