Newcastle United midfielder Cheick Tiote has reportedly chosen to join China League One club Beijing Enterprises Group FC contrary to reports that he was close to completing a deal with Shandong Luneng this week.

Reports went out earlier in the week that Tiote has arrived in China for his medical with the Chinese Super League side, which would have added him to an already star-studded cast that includes former Magpies teammate Papiss Cissé and ex-Southampton striker Graziano Pellè.

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However, as it turned out, the medical exam was for another Chinese squad and not for Shandong. The 30-year-old Ivory Coast international opted to move to the capital city's second-tier club, also known as Beijing BG, in a two-year deal for an undisclosed transfer fee and salary, his agent Emanuele Palladino verified to SkySports on Tuesday.

Tiote has appeared in only one game for Newcastle in the EFL Championship this season after the team was relegated from the Premier League at the end of the last term. With the Ivorian not getting the favor of current Magpies head coach Rafa Benitez, speculations went out as early as December that a winter transfer is impending.

Tiote was bought by the Magpies from Eredivisie squad FC Twente during the summer of 2009 for a reported fee of $4.3 million. He has played 156 times in all competitions for Newcastle in six-and-a-half seasons, scoring one goal mainly as a defender, before asking to be transferred this season.

ESPN noted that Tiote was "linked with a number of clubs" prior to his switch, including La Liga's Sporting Gijon and a couple of unnamed Premier League sides, but Beijing was the highest bidder as the team aims to get promoted to the CSL next year.

Beijing BG finished eighth in the China League One last term, 18 points below promoted squads Tianjin Quanjian and Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng. The team has hired Bulgarian coach Yasen Petrov as their new manager for the upcoming 2017 season.

TagsChinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, Chinese Super League News 2017, Cheick Tiote, Newcastle United FC, Beijing BG