Angers have confirmed the signing of Cedric Hountondji from Clermont Foot 63.
The Benin Republic international penned a four-year contract with the Black and Whites which will keep him at Stade Raymond Kopa until 2026.
“Clermont Foot 63 regrets having to announce the departure of Cedric Hountondji while it was counting on the player for the 2022-2023 season,” his former club wrote on their website.
“After announcing at the resumption in June that he would remain at the CF63, the player suddenly announced that he wanted to irrevocably join another club.
“Moreover, a direct competitor in the fight for the maintenance, under the impetus of an intermediary ardently organizing his departure for several weeks as he had already tried to do in vain in the summer of 2021.
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“And this, three weeks before the first game of the coming season.
“Nevertheless, Clermont Foot 63 will remain happy to have contributed to the revival of Cedric's career and thanks him for what he has brought over the last three seasons.”
After completing his youth career at FCM Ingre, Orleans and Rennes, Hountondji was handed his first professional contract at the Roazhon Park in 2013.
His inability to tie down a first-team place at Rennes saw him loaned to Chateauroux and Auxerre before he was finally signed by Gazelec Ajaccio.
The Squirrel represented Ajaccio for four seasons before heading to the United States where he represented New York City in 2018.
A season later, he moved to Bulgarian side Levski Sofia and then Clermont for an undisclosed fee.
In the 2021-22 campaign, Hountondji featured in 23 Ligue 1 matches with a goal to his credit (vs Saint-Etienne on February 13, 2022).
With this move, he becomes the 11th African in Gerald Baticle’s squad.
Other include: Souleyman Doumbia (Cote d’Ivoire), Enzo Embosse (Cameroon), Sofiane Boufal (Morocco), Azzeine Ounahi (Morocco), Nabil Bentaleb (Algeria), Abdoulaye Bamba (Cote d’Ivoire), Abdallah Sima (Senegal), Sada Thioub (Senegal), Ulrick Eneme Ella (Gabon), and Farid El Melali (Algeria).
On the international scene, Hountondji represents Benin Republic. Prior to his switch of allegiance to the West African side, the defender had represented France at U16, U17, U18, and U21 levels.
