By Gareth James
Erol Bulut insists he can get new Cardiff City striker Yakou Meite firing again by the time the new seasons begins.
The Bluebirds have picked up the former Reading striker on a two-year deal.
Meite scored 47 goals in 165 appearances for Reading after joining them from PSG in 2016.
But the 27-year-old, capped three times by the Ivory Coast in 2019, has managed to score just four times in the last two seasons after losing both form and fitness.
He left the Royals at the end of last season after rejecting the offer of a new contract. He had scored once in his final 15 games for the club.
Cardiff City’s new winger… Yakou meite🔥
All 47 Reading goals, a very underrated signing ✍️
Welcome Yakou🏴 pic.twitter.com/oMT0Fq8JU4
— Diff Central (@Diffcentral) July 7, 2023
Cardiff boss Bulut said: “”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.
“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.
Meite becomes Cardiff’s third summer signing after striker Ike Ugbo and central defender Dimitrios Goutas.
“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.”
My first look at an Erol Bulut side. The inverted full-backs moves us one step closer to my grand plan of Perry Ng as a central midfielder 😍
My take on why it’s a good tactical tweak for City #CCFC #Bluebirds https://t.co/JlLXIlWRvJ
— Glen Williams (@GlenWilliams12) July 5, 2023
