With his contract with Germany's Borussia Dortmund at an end, Anthony Modeste is looking increasingly isolated on the European soccer map. The ageless Chinese Super League star has decided to set foot on the African continent in a bid to continue his career in a foreign land - according to official information from the Cairo Nationals, the 35-year-old Modeste has signed a one-year deal with the team, which comes with a one-year right to extend.
Anthony Modeste
In the season just gone, Aly unfortunately suffered from testicular cancer. As a replacement for the Ivorian international, Modeste joined Dortmund on an emergency basis from Cologne and energized Dortmund. In the season before joining the Hornets, Modeste scored 23 goals in all kinds of matches, and was regarded as a highly effective scorer by the German soccer world. However, after moving to Dortmund, the French striker's performance was very different, scoring only two goals in the whole season.
Anthony Modeste
In the eyes of many, Modeste's decision to join Borussia Dortmund seems to have been a bad one, but the man himself disagrees: "I can certainly understand people's opinion, because my stats at Borussia Dortmund are very different from what they used to be. But for me it was never a mistake. It was a great challenge for me. I ended up breaking into the Champions League. We fought until the end in the battle for the league title. Isn't that a success?"
It is clear that Modeste has no regrets about joining Borussia Dortmund, even at the price he paid for it. Last week, Modeste and his agent, Dino Lamberti, opened talks with Egyptian giants Cairo National. After the agreement was reached, Modeste completed part of his medical in Germany (on Saturday) and then traveled to Switzerland to complete the rest of the medical program (on Sunday).
On Monday, Modeste flew to Egypt along with his agent Dino Lamberti. Upon arrival, he met executive CEO Amir Tawfik and head coach Marcel Koller. That evening, Cairo National officially released a statement on Modeste's signing.
According to Egyptian media reports, Modeste earns a whopping $1.6 million a year after taxes and a $250,000 signing-on fee. Cairo National will pay him an additional $300,000 in bonuses if he performs well in the Club World Cup and African Champions League. In his new team, Modeste will wear the number 10.
Modeste will train for the first time on Tuesday evening before he travels with the team to Saudi Arabia Algiers (Algeria) for the African Super Cup. If things go well, Modeste is expected to quickly collect his first trophy with Cairo National.
