New Peterborough United striker wants to emulate some of the club greats

​The 25 year-old centre forward is treading the same path as Craig Mackail-Smith and Aaron Mclean who formed a formidable attacking partnership after moving to London Road from non-league football.

Tshimanga joined Posh from National League side Chesterfield on transfer deadline day after a £250k buyout clause in his Spireites contract was apparently triggered.

For financial fairplay reasons Tshimanga has moved initially on loan, but Posh have a commitment to buy him in the summer.

It ends a two-year pursuit of the player by Posh boss Darren Ferguson who rekindled his interest after it became obvious Jack Marriott wanted to leave London Road.

Tshimanga said: “I’m buzzing. As soon as I knew about the interest from Peterborough, I was really excited. I know what the club has done for a lot of forwards and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

"Peterborough looked at me when I was at Boreham Wood and Barry Fry tried a few times to get the deal done. It’s good to know that he’s been there on the lookout for me and always pursued me.

“It definitely feels like the right time to make the step up. I’ve had a really good four years in the National League. I’ve learnt a lot through playing games and built myself up into the player that I am today.

"I’m now looking forward to stepping up into the Football League and replicating my record there.

“The club has had a lot of history with very, very good forwards and that will be really helpful for me.

"Jonson Clarke-Harris has been scoring goals for fun again and I want to learn as much as possible from him so I can hit the ground running.

“The manager has told me to be myself and just continue what I’ve been doing. I don’t need to change a lot about my game, but obviously I’ve got to learn a lot about the team and the level.”

It's likely Tshimanga will start on the substitutes’ bench in the League One game at Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, but Ferguson told the PT he would not hesitate to pair the new man with top scorer Clarke-Harris up top if the situation demanded it.

"Absolutely they could play together,” Ferguson said. “They are very different players and I can see them working well as a pair.

"Kabongo has a great scoring record. He is strong, quick, a scorer of different types of goals and is a really good age.”

Tshimanga, who started his career at MK Dons, has been prolific at National League level at Boreham Wood, for whom he scored 40 times in 85 games, and particularly at Chesterfield where he bagged 32 goals in 49 matches (35 starts).

He suffered a broken leg which ended his season early in 2021-22, but he has played regularly this season and passed a stringent medical before the deal went through.

Tshimanga has been given shirt number 39.