Cedric Bakambu is an excellent forward that has scored goals almost wherever he has been, but he is also at the heart of one of the strangest transfer sagas in recent times. The Congolese forward was on his way to sign for Barcelona back in 2020, but the plug was pulled on the deal while Bakambu was in the air.
The Blaugrana were desperately searching for a striker in January of 2020 as they attempted to fill the void of Ousmane Dembele, who had been injured long-term. They would end up brinigng in Martin Braithwaite form Leganes, but previously they had gone after Bakambu.
Playing at Beijing Guoan, Bakambu was in Seoul, South Korea on Asian Champions League duty, when he got the call from his agent to say that a deal with Barcelona had been agreed.
“When Barca contacted me, I was not the first option, that must be said – Barca were also very close to signing Rodrigo Moreno, then at Valencia – time passed and at the end of the transfer window the option became more and more concrete,” Bakambu told Relevo.
“We were talking about a loan with a purchase option. Indeed, I took a flight to Spain, but I arrived at my layover and my representative told me that the transfer would not happen in the end, so I turned around and went back to join my team.”
That layover was in Hong Kong, where Bakambu received the bad news. He then received the call from then Barcelona Sporting Director Eric Abidal.
“Then Eric Abidal called me, who explained everything to me and apologised for the way things had been done.”
“I was surprised that he called me and I thought it was very elegant of him.”
Bakambu has most recently signed with Olympiacos after six months with Marseille.
“I finished as the top scorer in the Chinese league. I had six months left on my contract. I finished it and signed with Olympique de Marseille, a short but intense experience. I have good memories there, like my first goal in my first game or qualifying for the Champions League on the last day of Ligue 1.”
Bakambu’s signing will be a major ‘what if’ moment. Braithwaite ended up playing regularly for Barcelona for several months, and while Bakambu is a different style of player, he does have a better track record in La Liga. The Congolese appears to have taken it all in good spirit though.
