Eto'o deal off

Manchester City has confirmed that it has ended its interest in bringing Samuel Eto'o to the football Club. Speaking about the matter, club CEO, Garry Cook said, “Samuel Eto'o is undoubtedly a fine footballer but the circumstances surrounding him were such that the deal could not be completed.

“We now feel the time is right to pursue other avenues and we have a clear and strategic transfer plan, which we continue to follow.”

>>mcfc.co.uk

We may never know how realistic a signing Eto'o was, but the suggestion maybe not very close given we have pulled the plug on the day it was suggested he is to leave Barcelona. The assertion was that the club wished to impose a deadline on Eto'o to make a decision - completely valid and understandable if you are looking to put the pieces in place for 2009/10.

Given Eto'o was clearly not keen on making a decision within that timescale, he clearly did not have his heart set on the move so despite the talent he is, I have no issue with the deal being taken off the table.

Bringing in players of his calibre is clearly how the club want to move forward, and there is nothing wrong with this approach. But, if you are investing the sums of money reportedly offered to sign Eto'o then the player needs to be totally committed and buying into the 'project' being put to them. Eto'o obviously wasn't, maybe hoping for other (better?) offers to materialise, so for me the correct decision has been made here.

On a more positive note however, comes news that the protracted deal to sign Carlos Tevez is expected to be concluded during the early part of next week. Which for me more than makes up for the Eto'o news.