Gabon star Evouna happy to join Konyaspor

by Austin Ditlhobolo

Monday Aug 21, 2017. 14:00

Chinese side Tianjin Teda have agreed to loan Gabonese international Malick Evouna to Turkish club Konyaspor.

The 24-year-old striker moved to the Chinese Super League outfit from Egypt giants Al Ahly in a record transfer in July 2016.

Evouna netted three goals in 10 league appearances for Teda, before spending the last six months playing for the club's reserve team.

The marksman, who has also played for Moroccan club Wydad Casablanca, is ecstatic with his move to the Turkish Super Lig side on a season-long loan deal.

"Konyaspor has grown as a club in terms of brand value in recent years and I hope to make strong contributions here," Evouna told the club's website.

"I've only had a little training session with the team, but I've been working hard on my own.

"I'm just between 65 and 70 per cent ready and hope to improve that as soon as possible," he said.

"Delighted to be here, the beautiful atmosphere of the city and the facilities will help me in terms of conditioning. I feel much more comfortable here."

Konyaspor have the option to sign him permanently at the end of the loan period and club official Fatih Yinma disclosed that English Championship side Birmingham City were also keen to sign Evouna.

"The reason it took so long to sign Malick was the interest from British club Birmingham City, they made a £6 million pounds offer to the Chinese club," the Konyaspor official said.

"Luckily we managed to convince the player during his visit, we shared our philosophy with him and accepted the option to sign him on a permanent deal."