Shakhtar boss Lucescu: Teixeira set for China move

Shakhtar Donetsk star Alex Teixeira is set to become the latest player to move to China, coach Mircea Lucescu confirmed.

Teixeira was heavily linked with a move to Liverpool during the January transfer window, but the Premier League club were unwilling to meet the Ukrainian club’s asking price.

Instead, the 26-year-old appears likely to join Jiangsu Suning in a €50million move.

“We agreed the sale of Alex Teixeira to China, but we will wait a bit to give as finalised because of the situation of [Luiz] Adriano,” Lucescu told ESPN.

“But it’s close from our side, yes.”

Jiangsu made a splash in January with the signing of Ramires from Chelsea, while they also added Australia international Trent Sainsbury.

Teixeira, still uncapped by Brazil, has scored 22 goals in 15 Ukrainian Premier League games this season.

China has sent waves through the football world, with the likes of Jackson Martinez (Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao), Fredy Guarin (Shanghai Shenhua) and Gervinho (Hebei China Fortune) having moved east in recent times.