Congo international Cedric Bakambu was on the verge of joining FC Barcelona but the move fell through when the Spanish giants abandoned the idea of recruiting an attacker this month to fill the void left behind by Luis Suarez’s injury.
According L’Equipe, Barca turned attention to the former Villarreal top scorer after a bid for Everton’s forward Richarlison failed to materialise.
Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal reportedly contacted the agent of Bakambu, who now plays for Chinese club Beijing Guoan, with a proposal for a loan and option to buy.
On Thursday, Bakambu flew to Hong Kong to prepare his trip to Spain, the paper reported, but was contacted hours later that the Blaugrana management had changed plans and will no longer recruit a forward this winter.
The 28-year-old scored 32 goals in 75 games for Villarreal between 2015 and 2018.
