City have secured the signature of former Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Wigan Athletic attacking right-back Tendayi Darikwa on a one-year deal with an additional one-year option.
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Darikwa brings with him bags of divisional experience having captained Wigan Athletic to the League One title in the 2021/22 season.
The right-back started his career at Chesterfield before progressing to the Championship where he represented both Burnley and Nottingham Forest. The 32-year-old spent last season Cypriot First Division side Apollon Limassol.
He said: "I'm delighted to be here and have the deal done. The ambition of the football club stood out to me and it's a club with great values.
"The club was so close to getting in the play-offs last season, and I feel we can build on that. I want to be a part of it, I want to help and hopefully we can do that together.
"I can pass my experiences over the years onto a young squad with plenty of talent. I can have an influence in the dressing room as we learn about each other on and off the pitch."
Michael Skubala said: "Tendayi is a player of real calibre and a person with exceptional human qualities, which combined will be a real addition to our squad. We needed to look at the position differently and in Tendayi we have identified and recruited someone with different strengths but still the physical attributes a Lincoln City right wing-back requires. He will be a massive influence for us on and off the pitch."
Jez George added: "This is obviously a signing outside our usual recruitment model but we talk a lot about number of games played rather than age being the determining factor when signing senior players, and therefore the same should be true when the player is 32 rather than 23. The key is fitness, hunger to achieve and character.
"In meeting him, Michael and I know the latter two are two huge ticks and in passing a thorough medical, including a battery of physical testing, we know that Tendayi will be among the fittest in our squad. His recent playing record also shows that. We are really excited by Tendayi joining the club, turning down other League One clubs in the process, and look forward to his impact on the pitch as well as around the Soper of Lincoln Elite Performance Centre."
Thank you to Chris Vaughan for the photograph!
Reaction on the forum:
Impish: "Lots of experience so will hopefully be another decent signing. Certainly in an area that we need strengthening."
Scotimp: "Was a winger until converted to a full-back in his early twenties. Interestingly, the article calls him a right-back while Skubala calls him a wing-back. So, entirely possible we will play him as a traditional defender in some games and as a wingback in others."
NEW QUIZ: How much do you know about the history of our first pre-season opponents Preston North End? Have a go at the quiz below and share your result on X (Twitter).
What year were Preston North End founded? 1875 1880 1885 1890