NEW Barrow defender Moussa Diarra will bring a massive presence to the heart of the Bluebirds back line.

The 26-year-old made the move north from Hampton and Richmond Borough at the weekend, as one of AFC boss Paul Cox’s first new signings of the close-season.

More are set to come before the end of the week, with Cox busy working on completing deals.

Diarra made an impressive impact for the Beavers last season – breaking a league record for a defender as he netted 14 goals in their Ryman Premier title-winning campaign.

Cox sees the Frenchman’s 6ft 5ins frame as being a huge asset for his new club, and believes both he and fellow new recruit Richie Bennett demonstrate the talent available in the lower divisions of non-league.

“If you look at him and Bennett, both players have been taken from the lower leagues,” said Cox, who has also landed Chester’s Ross Hannah this week as he builds for next season. “They are both players we have been watching for a period of time now.

“We’re looking to bring them in, improve them. They’ve got all the basics there which are going to be effective at this level of football.

“Moussa is a massive presence. He’s 6ft 5in and, as you can imagine with somebody of that size, he’s very, very powerful in the air. He broke the record for a defender scoring goals at that level of football last season, with about 14 goals. As well as that, he’s a good defender who takes pride in defending.

“With both him and Bennett, it’s not what they are now, it’s what we can make them and how we can improve them – like with the Jordan Williams scenario. We’ve done our homework, we’ve watched them and we’re bringing in good players to the club who we think we can mould, improve and even move on in the future.

“They are both of a good age to come to us. They have attributes that will add to us, as well as things we can work with to add to the other side of their game.

“They are two very positive signings for the football club.”

Cox is hopeful more deals for new players will be made this week, with four members of last year’s squad offered new deals so far and three new faces brought in, to add to the seven already under contract for 2016/17.

The Barrow manager is looking for a final squad of around 22 players, and said: “I’d like to think before Thursday we would have more coming in. It’s just a matter of who. I’ve talked to that many – I spent a day and a night in the hotel – it has been like a conveyor belt of players.”

He added: “The portfolio of players that we have worked on is huge. That’s not because we want to sign every Tom, Dick or Harry who becomes available, but we’re realistic enough to know there are bigger football clubs than us out there who have greater resources and who are going to choose to sign some of our first-choice players.

“We need to have a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, all the way through to probably Plan Z in terms of signings. The planning by Paul Ogden, myself, Ben Marvin and Simmo has been meticulous and we have been working on individuals for a while.”