Karl-Toko Ekambi signs—OFFICIAL

UPDATE: The deal is official, Ekambi has signed a five year contract with the Yellow Submarine.

News from Vila-real today is that Karl-Toko Ekambi is in town, has passed his medical, and will be signing a contract with the Yellow Submarine.

Born in Paris, but of Cameroonian descent, Ekambi began playing for amateur club Paris FC, spent three seasons there before turning professional and signing with Sochaux before moving to Ligue 1 with Angers in 2016. In two seasons there, he helped lead them to the French Cup final, and last season scored 17 goals, his best ever, and received the Marc-Vivien Foé Award as the best African player in Ligue 1.

There’s some information on him here from Football Whispers; here’s the CIES diagram (comparing him to Gerard Moreno; Bacca is very similar as well). Hoffenheim had been interested in him, and apparently there was a late bid from Stade Rennes to keep him in France, but Ekambi made it clear he wanted to play for Villarreal.

No figures have been announced as yet, but it’s believed the deal will be for €20m, which seems quite reasonable given his youth (25) and career trajectory so far. It’s expected this deal will be formally announced in the next day or two, and Gerard Moreno will follow next week!