[2008] Eto'o for sale

this post was published exactly one year ago:


Spanish football weekly paper Don Balón claims that Barcelona president Joan Laporta has decided to put Barcelona forward and Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o (27) for sale in the summer. Barcelona is tempted by the idea of starting a new era with a clean sheet. The new team would be built around Iniesta, Messi and Bojan.

Several reasons are mentioned for the decision to sell Eto'o. His declarations of last week about wanting to leave if the club doesn't win a trophy next year (read more here) were - once again - not appreciated by the Barcelona board nor by his team-mates. Nor by the fans, who never really have connected with Eto'o like they have done or all still doing with players like Ronaldinho or Messi.

Some people also suggest that Eto'o, due to several serious injuries over the last two years, has lost that extra pace and strength that he had before and will therefore never be the same decisive player he once was. His performances in the last Champions League games (no more goals after the group stage) could support this thesis. Selling the Cameroonian forward would also result to be an economicly lucrative operation which would allow Barcelona invest more in the new team.

All this leads Barcelona to be willing to listen to offers coming in for Eto'o during the summer transfer window. Chelsea and Tottenham would be considering to make a bid.

When discussing the transfer of Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Luka Modric (read more here), Tottenham manager Juande Ramos said in an interview with Croatian sports paper Sportske Novosti that he needs players like Modric and Eto'o to close the gap with the English top-four clubs Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool: "You cannot do anything overnight, I'm setting up a project for the next five seasons. For great achievements you need great players like Eto'o and Modric, who we have just signed."

Don Balón claims that Eto'o is not at all considering to leave Barcelona this summer. The player would nevertheless have asked his agents to sound out the market to know more about the transfer price European top clubs would be willing to pay for him.


Read more 28 April 2008 news:
Expensier Capel stays on the list
Inter willing to pay Giovani buyout clause