Democratic Republic of Congo striker, Cedric Bakambu has become the most expensive African footballer of all time after completing a £65 million move to Chinese Super League club, Beijing Guoan from Villarreal.
Bakambu usurped Gabon striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Africa’s most expensive player. Aubameyang moved to Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for £56m after penning a four-year contract in January.
The Chinese Super League side met Bakambu’s release clause in January.
But The Sun reported that the deal had just been completed after Beijing Guoan was forced to pay a super tax to Chinese authorities.
Rules state that clubs must pay 100 per cent tax on new signings, but Beijing Guoan managed to negotiate a discount which saved them £5m.
They had argued that meeting Bakambu’s release clause technically made him a free agent, and therefore no tax payment was required.
But with the 26-year-old already training with his new club for the last month, Beijing Guoan agreed to pay a reduced fee to make the deal official.
Bakambu scored 46 times in 101 appearances for Villarreal and was LaLiga Player of the Month for October 2017.
He made his debut for the DRC in 2015, scoring seven goals in 16 appearances and was in their squad to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.