Villarreal's Bakambu claims PSG approached him last summer

Congolese forward Cedric Bakambu claims that Paris Saint-Germain approached him last summer over a possible transfer that would see him act as Edinson Cavani's backup.

Instead, Bakambu remained with Villarreal while PSG managed to secure the services of Spanish midfielder Jese Rodriguez from Real Madrid.

"Paris contacted me to be Cavani's backup," Bakambu told French publication L'Equipe, as translated by Jonathan Johnson of ESPNFC. "Obviously there were two pursuits (the other being Jese)."

PSG's decision to, instead, sign Jese has not resulted in success after a frustrating start to life in France. Shortly after penning a five-year contract, he was sidelined with an injury to start the season, and has since struggled to break into the first team.

Bakambu has also struggled with form during the early stages of the season, scoring just two goals in nine appearances in all competitions compared to the 25 he scored during a breakout year with the Spanish outfit.