St Mirren secure signing of attacker Roland Idowu on permanent basis

Roland Idowu will be back at St Mirren next season after the Paisley club announced the signing of the attacker on a permanent deal.

The Irishman caught the eye during a loan spell from Shrewsbury Town this season, and St Mirren have agreed a deal to sign Idowu from the Shrews for an undisclosed fee.

Idowu has signed a two-year deal and will be part of Stephen Robinson’s squad as the Saints prepare for next season.

The 23-year-old started the season slowly but made 26 appearances overall and came to the fore as the team made a late push to secure a top-six place, with Idowu scoring the winning goal against Ross County that put the team in the top half.

He also played his part as St Mirren went unbeaten in their five post-split games, with Robinson saying he had become a key player in black and white.

“Roland is a very talented player and offers us something different. He can play in numerous positions and gives us a creative outlet that we have maybe missed at times.

“It took him a little bit of time to adjust to the levels here, but you could see towards the end of the season that he was reaching those levels and had become an important player for us.

“There was a lot of interest in Roland from other Scottish Premiership and English League One sides so I’m delighted we’ve managed to get him here on a permanent deal.”

The club are also in talks to sign two more players who enjoyed success on loan with the Buddies this season. Talks are ongoing in a bid to sign Ryan Alebiosu and Zach Hemming.

In an end-of-season squad update published before Idowu’s move was completed, St Mirren said: “Ryan Alebiosu, Zach Hemming and Roland Idowu all return to their respective parent clubs following the expiry of their loan deals.

“Discussions are ongoing with all three players’ parent clubs as we look to bring them back to the club for next season.

“The club is continuing the hard work behind the scenes to add to the core of players already under contract for next season.”

Dennis Adeniran, Elvis Bwomono, Owen Foster, Gallagher Lennon, Caolan Boyd-Munce and Richard Taylor all leave St Mirren following the end of their contracts. Boyd-Munce and Taylor were offered substantial new deals but have chosen to look at options elsewhere.