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 wingers last year.

“Both Danny (Kedwell, ex-manager) and I were crying out for wingers but we never found what we needed.

“We were just bringing lots of players in, pre-me, that we hoped would hit the mark but didn’t quite get there.

“That didn’t mean they were bad players.

“I don’t think we gave them enough time or developed our play to suit a winger and we’ve got to do that now.

“Lorenzo plays either side.

“He’s right-footed but, like most right-footed wingers nowadays, he likes to come in off the left.

“We’ve got Noah Carney, Gary Lockyer, Louis Collins and now Lorenzo in attacking areas.

“It gives us the option of going two up top with one in behind, or one up, one in behind and a winger and playing slightly lop-sided.

“We’re still looking to bring one more in because we want five players fighting for those three positions.

“We’ve identified someone and we’re currently talking to them.

“Hopefully we’ll get that deal done relatively soon.”

Hume, meanwhile, has described defender Joe Ellul as a “natural born leader”.

The centre-half arrived from Isthmian South East champions Ramsgate last week as Ashford’s first summer signing.

He offers exactly what’s required at the back.

“We identified three positions that we’ve got specific people in mind for,” said Hume.

“One of them was a centre-half who’s a natural born leader and defends with his life, as opposed to looking pretty.

“Joe’s a good footballer, I don’t want to take that away from him, but he’s fearsome on the pitch and lets people know their jobs.

“He organises and, for me, that was missing last year.

“When we need to manage a game properly, when we’re away home and when we’re under the cosh, we need that individual on the pitch, as well as us doing it from the touchline. That’s Joe to a T.

“At our level he’ll be one of the best footballing centre-halves you can get but that’s not what we’ve signed him for.

“We’ve signed him because we want someone bellowing when to and when not to and who’s picking up at set-pieces.

“What I learnt last season was so many goals are conceded at the level we’re at through set-pieces and scored through set-pieces, and we need to be better at defending them.

“Joe’s the sort of individual who will win headers both in your box and the opposing box and that’s crucial for us.”