Ashford United manager Lloyd Hume on summer signings Lorenzo Lewis and Joe Ellul

Ashford United’s latest summer signing “tore the league to bits” when he last played in Isthmian South East.

Manager Lloyd Hume is delighted to bring winger Lorenzo Lewis to Homelands from Dulwich Hamlet.

He’s been after him for months and has his man after the 25-year-old’s contract at Champion Hill expired.

Lewis previously played at Step 4 with Merstham, where his form caught the eye of Isthmian Premier Dulwich.

“He’s someone we were chasing since February,” said Hume.

“At that point, Dulwich were only prepared to let him out on loan and we had enough loan players.

“We’ve been speaking to him since his contract ran out, as have other clubs.

“We met him down the club on Sunday and by the end of the afternoon he said, ‘I want to sign, I want to be part of what you’re doing’ and we got him on board.

“We’ve been speaking to a few different wingers but he was our first choice.

“He’s torn our league to bits before when he was at Merstham, which is how he got his move to Dulwich.

“He’s a young lad that’s fit, he’s quick, he travels well with the ball, he can score goals and can cross.

“He’s a great outlet for us and that’s what we’ve been looking for and lacking for a long period of time.”

Out-and-out wingers have largely gone out of the game these days.

But they’re a huge asset if you can find the right one.

Hume believes Lewis offers Ashford another dimension.

He said: “Sometimes, when games are so narrow, and it’s possession-based, football can be predictable, and that includes us.

“When you look at some of the good teams, Ramsgate, Sittingbourne, Three Bridges, they’ve got wingers who score goals, get past people, and they’re great outlets.

“We’re really strong through the middle but we never really persisted with