It is 10:30 p.m. in France, 5:30 a.m. in China, but Cédric Bakambu is not sleeping.
"PSG is playing so I'm awake," replied by message the striker, born and trained in Val-de-Marne, who joined the Chinese club Beijing Guoan since 2018.
More than 8,000 km now separate the former FC Sochaux player from Vitry where he grew up, but the distance is not felt.
To the point that almost 30 years old, the footballer announces his wish from China to invest in the Athletic Club of Vitry (CAV), 124 years since March 15, because he considers it under quoted.
What ties do you keep with Vitry?
CÉDRIC BAKAMBU.
I grew up in Vitry.
I still have most of my friends there.
Each time I return to France, Vitry is an obligatory passage for me.
I always manage to bring the neighborhood together around a football game or whatever.
Solidarity is still strong in Vitry and I am trying to do my part to make this state of mind last.
Currently I am in China, everything is going very well.
I am a competitor.
I became the top scorer in the history of my club.
We won the Cup of China.
There is a good atmosphere with the supporters.
At the moment I am in quarantine in accordance with health measures related to Covid.
I should be reunited with my teammates within two weeks.
What do you think you can bring to the CAV?
I would like to make the club benefit from my presence and my networks in order to bring a little more marketing and media, help them take this small step.
I also try to solicit sponsors and patrons who could financially support the club.
I'm not thinking of chairing it at all.
I have my career and all my other projects to carry out.
I really try to be a sponsor and kind of an ambassador for the club.
We have a president who has been here for years, and I hope he will be for a long time to come.
Why do you think the club is underrated?
As a professional footballer, I can assure you that the talent pool that the city and the department has more broadly is incredible.
And this from the youngest categories.
Unfortunately, our players don't have the exposure or the course they deserve.
As everyone knows, in football talent is not enough, you need other things.
Notoriety and networks are essential tools for a club today.
I want to bring to this level.
Currently, young people are playing in divisions which are not appropriate.
From district, we want to go up in league.
Also for seniors who are in regional 1, the objective is to move up to national.
Cédric Bakambu (top, center), then a player for FC Sochaux, during the children's Christmas in Vitry in 2013. DR
What does the CAV lack in order to progress?
Today, on a sporting level, the club is at 100% given the means at its disposal.
The most important thing for us is to succeed in uniting the city around the club.
We have seen with the Covid and the absence of amateur competitions how important football is in Vitry.
We want to prepare for the aftermath, bring the Vitriots to the stadium to encourage us, to dream together.
The idea would simply be to allow our pennants teams to play in a stadium where we can properly accommodate our many supporters, which is far from being the case and has been for years.
CA Vitry has seen a very strong increase in the number of its licensees.
The slots allotted for practice could be reorganized as players step into each other a bit.
We need strong signals from the mayor and his teams.
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What did you learn at Vitry?
I have never played at CA Vitry, I was trained in Ivry.
But I learned everything in the streets of Vitry to play with friends.
This is what must be remedied.
We must avoid the exodus of our vitriot talents to other cities.
Especially since these young people sometimes make long journeys to pursue their passion for football and competition, which often causes fatigue and has an impact on their education.
We are the most populous city in Val-de-Marne and we must be able to give young people who want it the opportunity to play elite football at the height of their talent.
And this goes through a new stage in the progress of the club with the support of the city.
CA Vitry must and will become obvious.
