Nigerian striker David Chidozie Okereke has joined Serie A newcomers Cremonese Calcio from Belgian outfit Club Brugge as his long-standing connection to Italy continues. Joining a Serie A club was always going to be the first choice for the striker likened to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Even though he became Club Brugges’ record signing three years ago when the Belgians paid Spezia $9 million for the lanky forward, the foray out of Italy didn’t work out. But after the first season in Brugge, things started to unwind for Okereke as he fell out with then-coach Philippe Clement and was relegated to the subs’ bench. Salvation came from Italy, where Okereke had already progressed up the leagues after joining the fourth-tier club Lavagnese as a teenager in 2015. After playing for Spezia and Cosenza, last year’s offer to join Venezia on loan was the jackpot.DONE DEAL ✅ •👤 David Okereke 🇳🇬 🔢 24⬅️ Club Brugge KV 🇧🇪 ➡️ US Cremonese 🇮🇹 ✍️ Contract Length Unknown💰 Undisclosed Fee pic.twitter.com/k2GCZ00cvE— Transfersgalaxy (@transfersgalaxy) July 28, 2022 Even though I Arancioneroverdi suffered relegation after a poor second half of the campaign, Okereke was one of the players who could hold their head up high despite the demotion. He scored seven league goals in what was always going to be a tough season.Earlier this month, Okereke told Nigerian media that he wasn’t going to go back to Club Brugge for pre-season. Instead, he spent the holiday in his native Lagos and waited for a call that would end his miserable association with the champions of Belgium.##NAJAVA_MECA_6528863##Cremonese haven’t announced the fee for their latest recruit nor the contract length, but they stressed that the transfer is permanent as opposed to a loan. It’s believed that the sum paid to Club Brugge is somewhere in the $10 million area, making the Nigerian I Grigiorossi’s most expensive player in the club’s 119 years-long history. This season’s promoted club Cremonese have already brought in 13 players as they prepare for their first attempt at top-flight football after nearly three decades of waiting.Cremonese fans will undoubtedly celebrate the return of Serie A football to the Lobardian city of Cremona and their century-old Stadio Giovanni Zini stadium. The signing of Okereke gives them hope that the season won’t end in infamy.
