Kenya Winger Ayub Masika Makes Chinese Super League Transfer

Ayub Masika, then of KRC Genk, in Genk, Belgium, October 2 2013.
Ayub Masika, then of KRC Genk, in Genk, Belgium, October 2, 2013. Masika has signed for China League One side Beijing Renhe. Yorick Jansens/AFP/Getty

Ayub Masika, the Kenya winger, has become the latest African football star to move to China.

Masika, 24, has signed for Beijing Renhe in China League One, the division below the Chinese Super League, from Lierse in the Belgium Pro League. He also plays for the Kenya national team.

His transfer comes in the same week that Christian Bassogog, the Player of the Tournament from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, moved to Henan Jianye of the Chinese Super League.

"Lierse and Chinese second division Beijing Renhe Football Club came this afternoon [Monday] to an agreement regarding the transfer of Ayub Masika," a statement on the club's website read.

"Lierse is aware that the timing for an outgoing transfer is not ideal, but the offer from the Chinese club was of serious value and is also important for the financial stability of the club."

Masika also follows Kenya teammate Michael Olunga, the forward who signed for Guizhou Zhicheng of the CSL in January from Djurgardens in Sweden.

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