By Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE international forward Tino Kadewere has vowed to emulate French superstars Karim Benzema and Alexandre Lacazette by using his recent move to French giants Olympique Lyon as a stepping stone to some of the top sides in Europe.
The duo of Benzema and Lacazette both cut their teeth at Lyon before securing big money moves to Real Madrid and Arsenal, respectively.
Lacazette was sold to English Premier League side Arsenal for £52m in 2017 after three successful seasons in which he scored an incredible 100 goals in 203 appearances which ultimately led to the London side spending big to sign him.
Benzema, who also began his career at Lyon, earned a big money move to Madrid in 2009 and has gone on to score 238 goals in 518 appearances. The Frenchman has also won four Champions League trophies, two La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys, three Uefa Super Cups and four Fifa Club World Cups in his time at the club.
Now Kadewere, who last Wednesday joined Lyon from Ligue 2 side Le Havre on a reported €15m deal to become Zimbabwe’s most expensive footballer ever, has declared his desire to retrace the footsteps of the star duo.
Kadewere, who will remain at Le Havre for the remainder of the season before officially joining his new club at the end of the current campaign, however emphasised his immediate task to help the Ligue 2 side secure promotion back to the top tier of French football.
“Signing in Lyon is very good for me, but I’m in Le Havre to help the team,” Kadewere said.
“I wanted to come back on loan to Le Havre, because I want to help the club go to Ligue 1. In Lyon, there were very good strikers, like Lacazette, Benzema … I want to do like Benzema, if it is possible.”
Kadewere, who has netted an impressive 18 goals in 20 games to lead the goal-scoring chats in Ligue 2, made his first appearance for Le Havre since his move to Lyon in a league match against Troyes on Monday night.
Although he was not on the score sheet, Le Havre registered a crucial 1-0 win which boosted their hopes of securing promotion to Ligue 1.
“It was a very good match. Troyes is a very good club but, this Monday evening, it was for us. This victory was very important. We are always looking for victory. The objective is to go up to Ligue 1. We will do everything necessary to reach it. When I arrived in Le Havre in 2018, I wanted to help the club move up to Ligue 1,”he said.
