Solomon Taiwo has thanked his lucky stars for the Carling Cup draw that landed him a move to Cardiff City.

Taiwo, 24, who was playing non-league football for Sutton United less than two years ago, completed his transfer from League Two Dagenham & Redbridge on Thursday.

Scouts from top clubs including Everton have been flocking to watch highly-rated midfielder Taiwo since he made his Daggers debut in October 2007.

Taiwo, 6ft 1in and 13st 2lb, has developed a powerful style of midfield play and earned a man-of-the-match rating when he played against Cardiff in the Carling Cup at Cardiff City Stadium earlier this month.

He told Cardiff City Player: "I heard that a few clubs were interested in me, then luckily Dagenham were drawn away to Cardiff in the Carling Cup. I played my normal game and that sealed the deal.

"I spoke to Dave Jones and it's obvious that Cardiff are a developing club. Dave and Peter Ridsdale have made me feel very welcome here.There's a great atmosphere in the stadium, and that can make you play better. I'm also in awe of the training faciltiies - they're not what I'm used to, although I'll always have good memories of Dagenham.

"There have been question marks over me - but people who really know me never question me. As a player I wear my heart on my sleeve and try to bring credit to myself and the team.

"There are some very good players here - Michael Chopra and Peter Whittingham caught my eye in the Bristol Rovers match. All I can do is learn, and try to get into the first team."

Taiwo, born in Lagos, Nigeria, played 43 league and cup matches for Dagenham last season, building a reputation for setting up chances for strikers, while scoring six goals himself.

City manager Dave Jones said: "We've been watching Solomon since January this year and we've been very impressed with him. He has also played against Cardiff, which gave us the opportunity to see how he did against players from a higher level. And I have to say he did well against us.

"He's done the rounds in non-league, earned a break in professional football with Dagenham and made the most of it to get a move to us. I mean no disrespect to Dagenham, but Solomon now has the chance to improve his game with better players around him.

"I'm delighted to have him here. He's big, strong, good on the ball, and we've beaten off Premiership interest to sign him. I know Everton were looking at him."