Cameroon–France centre-forward Vinni Triboulet has completed a move to Chinese side Meizhou Hakka from free agency, signing a contract that runs from 2026-02-04 to 2027-12-31. The 26-year-old arrives in League One with a current market valuation of €700k, joining the club after several months without a team following his departure from Bulgarian outfit Botev Plovdiv.
The transfer is a free move, with no fee involved, as Triboulet was registered as “Without Club” prior to the switch. Meizhou Hakka have added an experienced attacker who has already featured in France, Belgium and Bulgaria, and now takes the next step of his career in China’s second tier. The deal places him in a new continental environment, far from his birthplace of Douala and the European leagues where he built his reputation.
Triboulet, standing 1.84 m and primarily deployed as a centre-forward, has developed through a varied club pathway. He came through the AS Nancy-Lorraine system in France, progressing from the U19 squad to the B team and then the senior side. A loan spell at Royal Excelsior Virton in Belgium, followed by time with their U21s, broadened his early experience. After leaving Nancy and a stint without a club, he rebuilt his value at Beroe Stara Zagora in Bulgaria, where his market worth climbed as high as €1m during 2024, reflecting strong performances in the Bulgarian top flight.
A subsequent move to Botev Plovdiv in the same league sustained that level initially, with his value assessed at €1m late in 2024 before dipping slightly to €800k by mid-2025. His contract there ended on 2025-07-01, leaving him unattached and later valued at €700k while without a club. That period as a free agent has now concluded with the confirmed move to Meizhou Hakka.
Internationally, Triboulet holds both Cameroonian and French nationality. While the data does not indicate any senior national-team appearances, the dual-national forward now adds China to a career that has already taken him through Ligue 2 and lower tiers in France, the Belgian system and Bulgarian football. For Meizhou Hakka, his profile as a mobile right-footed striker with experience in multiple European environments adds depth and variety to their attacking options.
His arrival also underscores the growing trend of African and European-based forwards seeking new opportunities in Asian leagues. By committing to Meizhou Hakka through to 2027-12-31, Triboulet enters a crucial phase of his career in a competitive but less familiar setting, with the chance to re-establish or even elevate his market value. How quickly he adapts to League One, and whether he can reproduce the form that once pushed his valuation into seven figures, will go a long way toward defining his next career step once this contract in China concludes.
