Montano is latest signing
Livi secures deal with Colombian winger
Livingston have continued their recruitment drive for next season with the signing of Colombian winger Cristian Montano.
The 29-year-old arrives in West Lothian having spent his entire playing career in England bar a solitary season back in his homeland with America de Cali.
He was most recently with Port Vale, where he made close to 150 appearances in four seasons.
The former West Ham United youth player has signed a twoyear deal with a club option to extend. He can play anywhere on the left, but boss David Martindale says he views him as a genuine winger.
Speaking to the Courier, he said: “We got approached about him last season as a left-back but I wasn’t overly sure that was his best position. I liked the look of him as a genuine left-winger.
“He since changed agents and we were approached again as a left-winger so I did a bit of digging.
“I spoke to the boy and he said he’s a left-winger who was asked to play further back last season and was happy to do so because that’s where his gaffer wanted him to play.
“He’s aggressive, he’s got good feet and I think he’ll be a very good fit for the club. He’s a natural left-footed left-winger and I think we’ve missed that ever since Nicky Cadden left.”
Martindale added: “He can double up at left-back or left wing-back and do a job there but I predominantly see him further up the park.
“He’s played 200 or so games at League Two so he’s got decent experience and he’s a decent age. I’m told he’s got a great personality and I’ve got on really well with him when I’ve been speaking to him so I’m looking forward to getting to work with him.”
Montano becomes the second player to sign a pre-contract agreement with the Lions after Queen of the South’s Ayo Obileye committed himself to the Lions last week. The 26-year-old put pen to paper on a similar twoyear deal with a club option to extend by a further season.
■ For an interview with Obileye, and more on Livi’s recruitment for next season,
Livingston new boy Ayo Obileye knows what happened to the last player to sign for the Lions from Queen of the South - and he’s backed himself to repeat the feat.
Lyndon Dykes arrived in West Lothian from Dumfries two years ago. He departed in August as the club’s record sale and is now playing every week in the English Championship, set to line-up at Euro 2020 for Scotland and has attracted interest from clubs in England’s top flight.
It’s a story the Lions’ new arrival admits he has taken inspiration from and discussed at length with Dykes’ former strike partner at the Doonhamers, Stephen Dobbie.
The 26-year-old Obileye has signed a pre-contract agreement with Livi on a two-year deal with a club option for a third, and the former Chelsea youth product believes he’s made the perfect move and given himself the launch pad to aspire to even higher levels.
He said: “What happened to Lyndon Dykes was an inspiration for me. I spoke to Stephen Dobbie about it and he told me about his partnership with Lyndon.
“And he said Lyndon went on to Livingston and did well and how he’s gone to QPR.
“So when I heard Livingston wanted me I did my research and thought: ‘Why can’t I be the next player to do the same thing?’ That was a reason I wanted to come here. I feel like I can still play at a high level, I feel like there is more improvement in me.”
Obileye can play defensive midfield or at centre-back but finished the Championship’s second-highest scorer last term with nine – and he says he’s ‘over the moon’ to have made the step up to the Premiership, and admits he turned down other clubs to sign for the Lions.
He said: “I’m over the moon. I have come up here to the Championship and we had a rocky start at Queens.
“We’ve turned it around and I have worked my socks off to help the team finish in a good position.
“I believe in myself and my ability, I always thought I could play in the Premiership, but I took the step to go to the Championship.
“It’s easy to say you’ll only stay for a certain period and get a move but pulling that off is hard. My first thought was to play games and show my ability and that I’m a half-decent player.
“I have more than done that, scored a decent amount of goals and helped Queens nearly reach the play-offs.”
He added: “Davie (Martindale) attracted me mostly with how he trains the team and what he wants to bring to the club.
“It’s a great bunch of boys, they have done brilliantly to finish in the top six two years in a row and I want to be a part of that.
“I could have gone back to England but I want to play in the Premiership here. I have had a good time here, so why change it?
“There was another Premiership club in for me but Livingston blew them away.
“Seeing what they have done over the last two seasons has been mesmerizing.”