The French-Congolese striker is ambitious ahead of his contract renewal until 2022
The French-Congolese striker, Cédric Bakambu, was ambitious during the event held to celebrate his renewal with Villarreal CF until 2022 (his original contract lasted until 2020). The press conference was held at the Ciudad Deportiva and was led by the Vice President of the club, José Manuel Llaneza.
Cédric Bakambu has become a real ‘goal machine’ at the Yellow Submarine since he arrived at the club in August 2015 from Turkish side Bursaspor. Not surprisingly, the French-Congolese striker has been the club’s top goal scorer for the last two seasons. In the 2015/16 season he scored 22 goals, while in the 2016/17 season he scored on 11 occasions. Nevertheless, Bakambu wants more. “I think I can do more. In the first season I finished well, in the second I did not play much due to an injury and the African Cup. Now in my third season I want to play more games and score more goals. I want to challenge myself. The most important thing is to finish preseason well. In my head, the goal is to improve what I did last season. I wasn’t satisfied”.
The Yellow number 17 has been in great form. “I am very happy and I will give everything to help the team. I recently got married and now this renewal comes. Everything is perfect for me. I’m working hard with the team to make sure we have a great season”, he said.
Cédric Bakambu is not afraid of his attacking competition. “We have very good strikers. With Enes Ünal who I played with in Turkey and with Soldado I have a good understanding, as with Sansone. We are very lucky to have these forwards. Ünal is a very good player. When I see him play he looks like Ibrahimovic from Manchester United. He’s a striker I really like”.
As for the team’s objectives, Bakambu believes they can beat them: “We can improve last season. It will not be easy, but in football everything is possible. We will work hard to reach our goals”.
Llaneza: “I’m sure that Bakambu will have a great season”
Villarreal CF Vice President José Manuel Llaneza was satisfied with Bakambu’s contract renewal until 2022. “It’s a satisfactory agreement for the club and for Cédric. It’s a great for us because Bakambu brings qualities that are hard to find in a footballer. One is his footballing ability and another is the great person he is. He’s a great guy. One of the main objectives at the club was to renew Bakambu’s contract”, Llaneza stated.
Llaneza expects a lot from the French-Congolese striker. “This year he’s starting preseason with the group and he will have a fantastic season. I’m confident he will be a key member of the team. I can only thank him for staying and making us so happy during the games”.
The Yellows Manager acknowledged that there were offers for the striker, but the club was very clear on its stance: “When both parties want to cooperate it is easy to reach an agreement. He wanted to stay and we also wanted him to stay. There were significant offers for Bakambu, but every club encountered the same two problems: one is that the club did not want to sell him and the other is that Bakambu didn’t want to leave”.
Finally, Llaneza analyzed the situation of the current squad: “You can’t change ten players each season. We have a base and from there onwards you add players. The team is getting stronger and stronger”.
