Soccer

Cardiff sign former Reading striker Yakou Meite

Former Reading striker Yakou Meite has joined Cardiff on a two-year deal (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Former Reading striker Yakou Meite has joined Cardiff on a two-year deal (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Cardiff have signed former Reading striker Yakou Meite on a two-year deal.

Meite scored 47 goals in 165 appearances for Reading after joining them from Paris St Germain in 2016.

The 27-year-old, capped three times by the Ivory Coast in 2019, left the Royals at the end of last season after rejecting the offer of a new contract.

“I’m delighted to be here,” Meite told the official Cardiff website.

“It wasn’t a difficult decision to join Cardiff City once they came in for me. I’ve had many conversations with the manager, and I very much liked what I heard from him and the project he wanted to achieve at this club.”

Cardiff boss Erol Bulut said: “It’s a great signing for us. He will help us a lot with his power and his speed.

“We are really very satisfied that he’s signed for us. He has played the last five or six years in the Championship, so he knows the league very well.

“He knows how to score goals, which is very important for us.

“It will take a little bit of time, but it’s good that he’s come here with one month to go until the league begins. We will get him ready for then.”

Meite becomes Cardiff’s third summer signing after striker Ike Ugbo and central defender Dimitrios Goutas.