Villarreal’s Bakambu on imminent life-changing move to China

Villarreal attacker Cedric Bakambu has revealed that he is close to a life-changing switch to Chinese Super Lig side Beijing Guoan.

Earlier this week, the Yellow Submarine boss Javier Calleja revealed that Roger Schmidt’s side were willing to match Bakambu’s €40 million release clause.

And ahead of his move to the Workers' Stadium outfit, Bakambu expressed mixed feelings as he awaits both clubs to finalise all formalities.

“It’s all closed, almost everything has been done. Now I’m waiting for the two clubs to resolve things and that’ll be it,” Bakambu told AS.

“Things change really quickly, but I’ve had this offer for a while and I didn’t want to say anything to anyone. I’m both happy and sad at the same time, a bit of both. But this is the life of a footballer.

“This is an opportunity that’s going to change my life, I know it. But it’s not easy to make a decision. I’ve spoken a lot with my family and in the end, we took this decision, I think it’s for the best.”

The DR Congo international who joined the Yellow Submarine from Bursaspor in August 2015 picked Villarreal’s 1-0 win over Liverpool in April 2016 as his best match in the Estadio de la Ceramica.

He added: "Playing with Bacca, with Soldado, with loads of my team-mates, it’s a great opportunity. I’ve enjoyed myself a lot, by best memory is the home match against Liverpool.”

The 26-year-old has been in an impressive form in front of goal with 14 goals across all competitions this season and was also named the Spanish La Liga Player of the Month of October.