With the clock ticking ahead of the league season, Barnet have made their fourth delve into the transfer market to turn Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro's trial permanent at The Hive, the Barnet Times can reveal.

The French striker has spent more than a month trying to impress head coach Martin Allen after his departure from Shropshire, where he scored seven goals last season.

He struck once for the Bees in pre-season, in their 3-2 defeat to Eastleigh last week, and has done enough during his time in north London for Allen to hand him a full-time contract.

Toulouse-born Akpa Akpro begun his career with his home-town club, making a single start in the French top flight before a brief spell in Belgium was followed by a first foray into English football, when he joined Grimsby in 2008.

A two-year spell at Rochdale then saw him net 12 times across two seasons, and he later spent the same length of time at Tranmere Rovers in League 1, chalking up another 10 goals.

Then came his move to Greenhous Meadow, where he reached double figures during the Shrews' promotion campaign two years ago, before ending his spell with three goals in six games at the back end of last season.

The 31-year-old striker follows Josh Vickers, Alex Nicholls and Ryan Watson into the club, in what has been a moderately quiet summer on the transfer front at the club.

No confirmation has been made regarding the length of Akpa Akpro's deal, but he will go straight into the squad for this weekend's League 2 opener at Cambridge United.