ESTAC Troyes wrapped up one of their final attacking moves of the transfer window by securing Timothé Nkada. The 27-year-old Franco-Cameroonian forward arrives on a paid loan, with a purchase option set at 1.8 million euros, from Belgian club Standard Liege.
Trained at Stade Rennais' academy before launching his professional career, Nkada broke out last season at Rodez Aveyron Football, where his 17 goals in France's Ligue 2 made him the division's second-highest scorer. That performance earned him a move to Standard, where his stay ultimately lasted just one season.
At Troyes, freshly promoted to Ligue 1, the forward reunites with a coach he knows well in Stephane Dumont, with whom he had already worked at Stade de Reims. That existing relationship weighed in his decision on where to move next.
The Aube-based club, which must prepare for a survival battle against financially stronger rivals, made attacking reinforcements a priority of its summer business. Nkada passed his medical before the move was made official in early September, in the very last working days of the transfer window.
For Standard Liege, the sale fits into a broader wave of departures, as the Belgian club looks to trim a squad it considers too large ahead of the new season. The 1.8 million euro option allows Standard to recoup part of its investment should Troyes decide to keep the forward once the loan ends.
Nkada joins the list of Cameroonian players in Ligue 1 this season, at a club banking on his experience of French football's second tier to help him settle back in at the top level.
