Bakambu completes Beijing Guoan move for reported $90M fee

Congolese striker Cedric Bakambu finally joined Chinese Super League Side Beijing Guoan on Thursday - more than a month after leaving Villarreal.

There's no official word as to how much Guoan paid for Bakambu, but BBC Sport's Piers Edwards said it amounted to a record $90-million fee for an African footballer.

The lengthy delay raised suspicions that Guoan was trying to avoid paying China's 100 percent tax on foreign signings. Bakambu was pictured training with the team during a retreat in Portugal, but an official announcement only arrived Thursday.

The Chinese football association warned that any club found to have circumvented the rules would be docked 10 points.

However, Guoan reportedly paid $50 million to activate the release clause in Bakambu's Villarreal contract and another $40 million in taxes. Edwards said Guoan managed to save $10 million in taxes.

"It took a long time," club general manager Li Ming said, according to Agence France-Presse. "We had to decipher and assimilate the new federation rules to know how we should respond. We had an appropriate arrangement with the federations."

Bakambu is the latest player to ditch European football for more lucrative opportunities in the Far East, with former Las Palmas winger Jonathan Viera also moving to Guoan.

Yannick Carrasco, Nico Gaitan, and Jose Fonte all joined Dalian Yifang this winter, while Javier Mascherano traded Barcelona for Hebei China Fortune.