Football: Kanoute latest name to head for China

BEIJING: China’s growing popularity as the preferred destination for ageing former English Premier League players shows no sign of slowing with striker Frederic Kanoute completing a move to Beijing Guoan. The Beijing club said in a brief statement that the 2007 African Footballer of the Year had completed his move but gave no details of the contract. Kanoute’s former club Sevilla said the 34-year-old had agreed a two-year deal with Beijing. Malian Kanoute spent seven successful years in Spain after plying his trade at English clubs Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. The transfer adds to the ever-growing list of big foreign signings made by Chinese clubs in recent times. Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba recently followed his former Chelsea teammate Nicolas Anelka in making a lucrative move to big-spending Chinese Super League strugglers Shanghai Shenhua.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2012.