Familiar Songo'o

The French-born central defender arrived at Home Park shortly after the transfer deadline for the 2015-16 had passed, so could not sign up for the run-in, but trained with the Pilgrims first-team to allow Derek Adams to reacquaint himself with Songo’o’s qualities. 

Adams has worked with Yann before; a loan spell at Ross County in 2013-14 saw Songo’o arrive from Blackburn and play 17 times for Adams’ Staggies. 

With Peter Hartley a confirmed departure, Adams was in the market for a centre-back, and saw enough from Songo’o on the training fields to believe that he will fit in nicely at the beginning of Derek’s second season as Argyle boss. That said, there may be more than one role available for the new man. 

“Yann came in from Blackburn Rovers on loan while I was at my previous club,” said Derek. “He can play in defence or in defensive midfield. He is good on the ball, quick, good in the air and strong in the tackle. 

“His age – 24 - also makes him a good signing. 

“He was with us for a number of months at the end of the season. He will have benefited from being around the place.”

Derek reiterated that there are plenty of other new signings in the pipeline as well as current players ready to put pen to paper on new deals, with formalities simply to be completed. 

Far from being a concern, it is a credit to the manager’s meticulous nature that every facet of each deal will be completed before each player, in turn, can be unveiled.

“We have a number of agreements,” said Derek, “But we will wait for the contracts to be signed. 

“Come pre-season on July 1, I expect to see a lot of new faces.”