In July last summer, Sky Sports confirmed that Rafa Benitez was keen on bringing Villareal striker Cedric Bakambu to St James’ Park. Today, the Congolese striker has become the most expensive African footballer ever, joining Chinese side Beijing Guoan for a whopping £65m!
The 26-year-old scored an impressive 14 goals in 21 games across all competitions for Villarreal this season and it was claimed over the summer that Newcastle and West Ham would have to pay in excess of £22m to sign him.
Turns out the Spanish side have recouped almost treble that fee, which is some going given he has actually never scored more than 13 league goals in a season!
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's record didn't last long…
Cedric Bakambu has signed for Beijing Guoan in what is understood to be an African transfer record.
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— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 1, 2018
This perhaps shows just how inflated today’s market is, especially when Premier League clubs like ourselves are forced to compete with the free spending money machines in China.
He may be a decent striker and someone who would’ve no doubt been a great buy for NUFC, but £65m (more than Aubameyang!) for a player with limited pedigree in Europe’s top leagues is quite ludicrous.