Asked about his future, Arsenal forward and Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor (25) has unconfirmedly said in an interview with French sports weekly paper Sportweek that he is not thinking about leaving Arsenal at this moment, while at the same time confirming that Barcelona was interested in him last summer:
"I knew that Milan and Barcelona were interested last year. AC Milan contacted me personally and they are one of the best clubs in the world. But in the end I chose to remain at Arsenal. I wanted to end what I had started, and show that what I had done in the last season was not a coincidence.
Arsenal has given me the possibility to grow. And I now want to repay the club for having allowed me to become one of the great players in world football by winning something here. I find myself well here, even if, as I often say, you can never know what life will bring."
Read more:
New bid for Adebayor being planned
Barcelona plans few changes in the summer
Barcelona moving for Arsenal trio
Monday, 9 March 2009
Adebayor confirms last year's Barcelona interest
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Eto'o: "I can still go higher"
Barcelona player Samuel Eto'o gave an interview to French sports site Sportweek.
You will soon turn 28. People say that's the age of maturity for a football player, and more in particular for a striker. Does that scare you?
No, '28 years, the age of maturity', that's just one of these expressions. I myself know that I can still go higher. I'm proving it this season. last summer, I wasn't really welcome at Barcelona. Some people within the club had doubts on me because I suffered a serious injury and it took me some time to return. Nowadays, nobody has doubts anymore. But that's football. people forget very quickly and you always have to proove yourself, show who you are, what you're capable of. Every day, on training. Nothing is given to you.
Not even to you?
Not even to me.
What could prevent Barcelona from becoming the Spanish champions?
We ourselves could. We have such an enormous series of wins that there's a risk we loose focus. We're close to perfection, we're playing incredibly well but that's all fragile. That shouldn't be forgotten.
Last november you said that the team that won the Champions League in 2005-2006 was better than the team of this year. You've changed your mind?
No. We didn't win anything yet. And that's the only thing that matters when judging the quality of a team.
How would you describe the harmony you seem to have inside?
Harmony, that's knowing where to go on the pitch and when to do it. When I watch Leo Messi or 'Titi' make a move, I know what they want to say and instictively I know where to go to. But it's not like that every Sunday. It's enough that one of us is not on top to make everything more complicated.
Olympique Lyon can eliminate you from the Champions League?
In theory we should be a little better but honestly, that doesn't mean anything. They also have great players.
That's just waffle. Which Lyon player would for example have a spot at Barça?
Impossible to say. In football, it's all about adapting. Without thinking too much: Benzema, Juninho and Jean II Makoun.
Jean II Makoun? You're just mentioning him because he's one of your Cameroon friends...
He's a very close friend of mine, but I also think he's a great player who at this moment isn't showing everything he's capable of. If he would be able to join a really big club, that would change a lot of things. I'm not saying that Lyon isn't a big club but there's still a higher level.
Some short questions at the end. How many mobile phones do you have?
Approximately 400. I collect them. It's really a bad obsession.
Who's the most famous person in your directory?
Georgette, my wife.
If there would be made a movie about your life, who could play you?
Denzel Washington. I've adored him in 'American Gangster'.
If you would meet God, what would you like him to say to you?
That I will live long and that I will be able to see my children grow up.
Why did you refuse to pose with the Barcelona shirt?
I don't like players who kiss their shirt after having scored, while the next day they wouldn't hesitate one second about joining another club if they're offered a few millions more. For me, the club of my heart is Mallorca and at this moment I'm working for Barça. That's all.
This was the second and last part of this interview. Read the first part here:
Eto'o: "I already made a decision on my future"
Monday, 16 February 2009
Eto'o: "I already made a decision on my future"
Barcelona player Samuel Eto'o gave an interview to French sports site Sportweek.
When invited by Sportweek to put together an ideal team that didn't include French players, French national team coach Raymond Domenech chose you as centre forward, together with Wayne Rooney. Does that kind of recognition means something to you?
It's of course a great honour if someone like Raymond Domenech, who knows the game of football and what he's talking about, names me in that kind of things. It's an enormous recognition but I don't conclude from that that I'm the best striker in the world. I'm Samuel Eto'o and each day that goes by, I do everything to reach the highest possible. That's all.
You sometimes say that France and Cameroon have a similar place in your heart. Where does this love for France come from?
Where I live, in Cameroon, France is considered an ideal place. There's more, when a player leaves the country for example to go and play in Italy, people say that he leaves "for France". As if France and Europe are the same thing. The language of course plays an important part in this. As I'm concerned, France even means a little more.
Explain that to us...
I arrived in France when I was an adolescent. I participated in a youth tournament in Avignon and I took advantage of it to join an aunt who lived in the Paris region. I stayed a few months with her, in Bobigny.
That was a happy period in your life?
Not really. I didn't have the right documents. I couldn't live and move freely. And football, that meant everything to me, didn't bring me anything good either. I tried to present myself at a draft organised by Paris Saint-Germain, but since I didn't have documents, I was refused at the gate. I was also refused by le Havre and I think I also went to Cannes, but it didn't work out. After nine months, I returned to Cameroon.
You blame France that they didn't received you well?
How could I blame France? I didn't have documents. There are rules in France and they are made to be respected. No, honestly, I don't have any regrets. If my fate would have turned in another direction then, I maybe would have become a Frenchman, and I maybe would have played in the team of Raymond Domenech. Or maybe not.
From the team of Barcelona, people first think about Leo Messi or, over the last years, Ronaldinho. You feel underestimated in France?
I don't think so. And even if that would be the case, that in fact would be a good thing. I spend a lot of time in Paris, I have an apartment there, I have family there and my wife and my children lived there for quite a while before they joined me in Barcelona... In Paris, I can breathe normally. I can walk on the streets without being recognized the whole time. In Barcelona, that's impossible.
You plan to end your career with a French club?
I've already said that if that would be the case, I would like to play at Olympique Marseille. But I don't think it will happen. In contrast, I wish to end my career at Mallorca, where everything started for me. It's there where I launched my career and where I took one of the most important decisions in my life. After having gained some fame there, I could choose between going to England, to Italy, returning to Real Madrid or joining Barcelona. I didn't make a mistake. But I didn't only make excellent decisions in my life...
What's the baddest decision you've ever made?
That has to do with my private life.
Your contract with Barcelona expires in 2010. Are you on the verge of taking a difficult decision: staying with Barça or leaving the club, maybe this year already?
No, that's easy. I actually already made my decision. But I cannot tell anything at this moment.
In general, when one talks like this in February, that's because there's already a deal on a transfer...
That's what you say.
Could Karim Benzema join Barcelona next season to, who knows, replace you?
Benzema is one of those players who can play at every club in the world. So why not Barça? But we also could play together...
This was the first part of this interview. You can read the second part of the interview here in the coming days, with Eto'o talking -among other things- about Olympique Lyon, the next oppnent in the Champiosn League, and about his mobile phone collection.
Read more:
Eto'o wants to negotiate renewal in the summer
Benzema not a transfer target anymore
Eto'o: "Every goal gives you more confidence"
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
PSV interested in Gudjohnsen
Dutch sports weekly paper Sportweek claims that PSV Eindhoven is interested in Barcelona attacker and Iceland international Eidur Gudjohnsen (29).
Monday, 31 March 2008
Huntelaar is in Barcelona
Dutch television football talk show Studio Voetbal claimed last night that Ajax Amsterdam forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (24) took yesterday evening a flight to Barcelona, where he could negotiate today about a transfer to Barcelona. Huntelaar's contract with Ajax expires in 2010 and the player, who scored already 29 goals in the Dutch league this season, has been linked with several European top clubs in the past months. Dutch television channel AT5 denied that Barcelona is in the race for Huntelaar, because they have enough quality forwards and because Barcelona adviser Johan Cruijff isn't a big fan of the player.
Dutch sports site Sportweek claims that Huntelaar left Barcelona and headed by train to Madrid, where he could have met with Real Madrid officials. An Ajax fan association states that Huntelaar went to Spain to cooperate on a new commercial by a sportswear supplier.
Posts
