Chinese Super League squad Beijing Guoan FC has signed veteran Turkish footballer Burak Yilmaz from Süper Lig squad Galatasaray SK for a transfer fee of €8 million according to reports on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old striker, who is a top target of English Premier League side West Ham United FC during the recently closed Europe winter transfer window, joined the Imperial Guards after Cimbom agreed with the €8 million release clause payment, as per Sportskeeda.

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Yilmaz had been with Galatasaray for the past four seasons, appearing in 141 contests in all competitions and scoring an impressive 82 goals during the said time period as one of the team's premier strikers.

He is also a two-time top goal scorer in the Turkish Süper Lig and have scored 19 goals in 42 games for the Turkey national team so far in his career.

Yilmaz had reportedly long been in the crosshairs of Hammers head coach Slaven Bilić, who already had a couple of chances to sign the forward. His last opportunity came during the recently closed January transfer window, but the deal fell through for undisclosed reasons, via Talk Sport.

The 6-foot-2, Antalya, Turkey native became the China capital city's fourth signing during this Chinese winter transfer window, following the acquisitions of Uzbek defender Egor Krimets and Brazilian midfielders Ralf and Renato Augusto. Another Brazilian, striker Kléber, is the fifth foreign player in the team's roster.

Yilmaz is the latest big-name footballer to join the Chinese Super League this year, and seems to be not the last, following the arrival of Ramires and Alex Teixeira from Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively to Jiangsu Suning, Jackson Martínez from Atletico Madrid to Guangzhou Evergrande, and Ezequiel Lavezzi from Paris Saint-Germain to Hebei China Fortune.

The Far East nation's winter transfer window is set to close on Feb. 26.

Yilmaz had suited for three other Turkish top flight clubs namely Besiktas, Fenerbahçe, and Trabzonspor.

TagsFootball Transfer News, Chinese Super League, beijing guoan fc, Burak Yilmaz, Galatasaray SK