Lyon (AFP)

Olympique Lyonnais formalized on Monday evening the loan until June 30 of Cameroonian international striker Karl Toko Ekambi, 27, from Villareal (Spain).

This "temporary transfer of an amount of 4 million euros is accompanied by a purchase option of 11.5 million euros" to which may be added a maximum of 4 million bonuses as well as an incentive of 15% on the capital gain of a possible future transfer (50% if the transfer takes place before September 15, 2020), said the Ligue 1 club in a press release.

This recruitment will make it possible to strengthen the workforce of OL, weakened by injuries, and to protect young talents from Lyon, such as Rayan Cherki.

Trained at Paris FC, Karl Toko Ekambi played in Ligue 2 at FC Sochaux from 2014 to 2016, before joining the SCO d'Angers, club with which he scored 25 goals in two Ligue 1 seasons from 2016 to 2018.

In the summer of 2018, he joined Villareal, scoring 18 goals in his first season. Elected last October Liga player of the month, Karl Toko Ekambi has played 62 games with the Spanish club, scored 25 goals, and delivered 10 assists.

The Cameroonian international also won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 with the Indomitable Lions and received, in 2018, the Marc-Vivien Foé prize, rewarding the best African player in Ligue 1.

The arrival of Karl Toko Ekambi "confirms the ambition of Olympique Lyonnais, still involved in the four competitions, to give themselves the means to be at the highest level in this second part of the season," said the club.

The transfer from the Cameroon center-forward is good news for Lyon, who lost their offensive star Memphis Depay and their promising midfielder Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, both seriously injured in one knee.

In their absence, coach Rudi Garcia did not hesitate to launch young shoots, like Cherki (16), who shone on Saturday in Nantes (4-3) in the Coupe de France (two goals, two assists and a penalty provoked), or midfielder Maxence Caqueret. And he stressed that the emergence of these young talents could push Lyon not to over-recruit.

"Everything comes into our thinking. We are still racing on all fronts. (...) We have a lot of matches, nine in 27 days," reacted coach Rudi Garcia on Monday at a press conference, saying happy to benefit from "more solutions".

The technician nevertheless agreed that he had to manage the hatching of young Rayan Cherki. "I cannot allow young people to play all matches and in particular a young man who seems to be more than his age physically like Rayan. It would be dangerous for his integrity. He also has a career to do," said Garcia.

© 2020 AFP