Eto'o will leave

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona forward and Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o (27) has decided to leave Barcelona after the events of the last months.

With the decision taken, the Cameroonian wishes to accelerate the negotiations because he wants to start the pre-season with his new club, allowing him to get back to his best physical condition as soon as possible. Inter Milan and AC Milan would have made him the best offers, although the Chelsea option is not to be excluded yet.

Eto'o has asked for a meeting with Barcelona officials tomorrow to discuss, together with his agent Josep María Mesalles, the offers he has received over the last months and to see what's the best option for both the player and the club. Eto'o wants Barcelona to receive the right transfer price for his transfer.

Barcelona economic vice president confirmed in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that a meeting is scheduled: "We have received several offers. We will talk in the coming days."

Read more:

Chelsea leads the race to sign Eto'o

Eto'o will only leave for the right price
Shevchenko prefers to stay with Chelsea

DEBATE: Next season's defense

With some minor changes never to be excluded (like Oleguer leaving or Henrique arriving and not being loaned out or some Barcelona B player getting promoted), it seems that we have pretty much all defenders on who we will be able to count next season in place. So what's your idea about our next season's back line? Who are the four guys who should take out those counter attacks and launch the attack?

You can pick from the following nine names:

Eric Abidal

Daniel Alves

Martín Cáceres

Rafael Márquez

Sylvinho Mendes

Gabriel Milito

Gerard Piqué

Oleguer Presas

Carles Puyol

Did we get the right price for Deco?

Was 10 million euro° enough for former Barcelona midfielder Deco?

Asked about the transfer fee Chelsea paid for him, Deco said in an interview with Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio that the fee is the consequence of the statements made by the technical department and the board of the club:

"In a way, what has happened is the result of how they have dealt with the situation. If you say that you're not counting on a player, you cannot ask too much for him afterwards. On the other hand, if that wouldn't have been the case, Chelsea wouldn't have signed me."

Barcelona economic vice president Ferran Soriano said at a press conference that Barcelona has sold Deco for a good price: "The price that Chelsea has paid is the right price if you look at the value of the player, the fact that he's 31 years old and that we didn't receive other offers. If a player who we bought at the top of his game for 18 million euro, is sold after four years for 10 million euro, I think that's a success."

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain agreed with that view: "Deco is 31 years old. He played at an incredible level the first two years but he wasn't that good during the last two. I sincerely think that 10 million euro is the right market price. Also because we only had an offer from Chelsea on the table.

If we would have received other offers, we would have been able to negotiate, although we knew that the player really wanted to go to Chelsea because of his good relationship with their new manager Scolari. We've reached the best deal possible, we're very satisfied with the great sporting benefits in the past and the good economic benefits now."

Read the complete Deco transfer story from the first rumours until the signature

Chelsea leads the race to sign Eto'o

Asked about the rumours linking him with a summer move to England, Barcelona forward and Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o (27) said in an interview with British tabloid The Daily Telegraph that he didn't yet take a decision on his future:

"All I want to do now is get back to where I was. I want to have a proper pre-season in which I can regain full match-fitness. That is the most important thing to me. Whether it will be in England remains to be seen, but I've always liked the idea of playing there. At this moment I just pray for one thing. I pray God will allow me to be fit and in the best condition to represent Cameroon in South Africa."

With Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham also seriously interested, the tabloid claims that Eto'o (27) looks on his way to Chelsea, where he would replace Didier Drogba.

Catalan sports paper Sport meanwhile reports that, although Eto'o is disappointed by the attitude of the club, the player doesn't want to leave the club amidst mutual reproaches and has asked discretion and caution from his entourage. The paper claims that Eto'o has excluded some financially very attractive offers and could be on his way to Italy.

Read more:

Eto'o will only leave for the right price

Shevchenko prefers to stay with Chelsea

Eto'o wants to talk with Guardiola

2007-2008: The transfer fees

Barcelona proposed last week its economic balance for the 2007-2008 year. These are the official numbers of the transfer fees paid and received between 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2008.


TRANSFER FEES PAID
Milito: 17 million euro
Cáceres: 16,5 million euro
Piqué: 5 million euro
Pinto: 0,5 million euro
Gudjohnsen: 0,5 million euro variables (for qualifying for last season's Champions League)
Others (probably Barcelona B players): 3 million euro + 1,5 million euro variables


TRANSFER FEES RECEIVED
Deco: 10 million euro
Zambrotta: 9 million euro
Belletti: 5,5 million euro
Giuly: 3,2 million euro + 0,4 million euro variables (for Roma qualifying for last season's Champions League)
Maxi López: 2 million euro
Fernando Navarro: 1,5 million euro
Motta: 1 million euro