On this Saturday in August, Karl Toko Ekambi (27 years old) is simply seated at the terrace of a bar at Porte d'Ivry, in Paris, after attending a National 2 (4th division) match. ) between the Gobelins and Fleury. Around him, his brother and friends. "I have always kept the same relatives, I have never changed," said the striker who signed up Monday evening in Lyon.
As soon as he can, Toko Ekambi returns to his neighborhood in the 13th arrondissement, to which he remains very attached. The Cameroonian international whose mother works in insurance and the father is a hotelier in Douala, lives far from the clichés of football business.
"I stayed fresh because I was not born in football"
For a long time and until 2015 when he was still playing at Paris FC in National, he was part of an MZ rap group under the pseudonym MC Loka, with his friends from the neighborhood. “I always had my quiet little life next to me, even when I started making money. I stayed fresh because I was not born in football, I did not do a training center, "explained Toko Ekambi, whose market value exploded according to his transfers: 400,000 euros from Paris FC to Sochaux in 2014, 1 million euros from Sochaux to Angers in 2016 and 18 million from Angers to Villarreal in 2018.
For almost two years, between 2008 and 2010, disappointed by the descent of the U16 from Paris FC and a badly treated knee in pain, he had decided to stop football. Schooled in a boarding school in Eure, he only played in the hall, with his friends, in a 13th century gymnasium. “I did not play in a club for a year and a half, then I started again with my friends in U19 PH at the Gobelins. I figured I might be messing up and Paris FC took me back after a try. "
With the U19 of the capital club, he broke out during Gambardella 2011 - elimination of PSG in particular -, and signed a long-term federal contract (five years) when he was already coveted by Brest, Sochaux or Le Havre. Very quickly integrated into the first team where he stands out for his speed, he misses his bac S but begins his ascent.
"I hope he goes to a big club because he deserves it"
Author of 14 goals in National in 2013-2014, he chose to sign in L2 at Sochaux who had been following him for several years. In two seasons, he scored 25 goals and continued his progression at Angers in L1. In Maine-et-Loire, his rating skyrocketed during the second year where he scored 17 goals. “He took on a big dimension but I'm not surprised, I always believed in him, explained Stéphane Moulin, the Angers coach. He has a lot of room for improvement and I hope he will go to a big club because he deserves it. "
Rewarded with the Marc Vivien-Foé prize as the best African player in L1, he joined Villarreal despite several English approaches. In the Spanish Liga, his record is quite good (24 goals, 10 assists in 62 games played in 18 months). On December 5, he even entered the history of Villarreal by being the first player to achieve a quadruple in a match (in the 16th final of the King's Cup against Almería). But the Spanish club therefore agreed to sell it to Lyon in the form of a paid loan of 4 million euros with option to buy (11.5 plus 4 possible bonuses) in June. In Lyon, the Parisian of the 13th century will change dimension, arouse many expectations but "is ready to cross this course", according to those around him. His versatility - he can play alone at the peak, with two in front or on one side -, offers several possibilities of choice to Rudi Garcia.