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.

Hughes on Eto'o and Tevez

"We'll all have to be patient. Every transfer is different - we were able to do the Gareth Barry deal very quickly, the one for Roque [Santa Cruz] was long-winded. We have to accept there may be others that will take a little bit of time.

"There is always an element of frustration when you can't conclude deals quickly. But we will give every deal the patience we feel it deserves. If we get to a point where we feel something is not going to happen, that's the time we move away. We've done that in the past."

>>goal.com

More on Eto'o

Eto’o is believed to be keen to secure the sort of signing-on fee he could expect if he saw out the remaining year of his contract at the Nou Camp and left on a free transfer. However, his agent Josep Maria Mesalles on Tuesday insisted reports that half of the transfer fee – around £12 million – had been demanded were “absolutely untrue”.

Sources at City are adamant that the Premier League side have no plans to increase their offer to club or player, believing any dispute over how the transfer fee is divided to be an issue between Eto’o, who is believed to be unhappy at the price tag the club have placed on him, and Barcelona.

>>telegraph.co.uk

From the reports we have seen the past day or so, it does suggest that money is really at the heart of all this - principally that Eto'o is trying to eke out as much as possible whether he moves or signs a new deal. The Independent suggests we are now standing aside to let Barca and Eto'o sort any issues between themselves, and that we will not be raising our offer.

This has got the potential to drag on throughout the summer, a distraction that will not be helpful in any way, so as good an addition as Eto'o is, surely some timeline needs to be imposed with regards to a decision one way or the other.

Et tu, Samuel?

Earlier today saw the press conference from the representatives of Samuel Eto'o, in which his future would supposedly be clarified. However, far from clearing up his current situation, we are left with more questions than we had at this stage yesterday.

To summarise today's events, we are left with the following potential scenarios:

Eto'o will stay at Barcelona and see out the final year of his contract:

However, Eto’o has one season of his present contract left to run and, rather than accept the riches on offer at City, he is preparing to see out the final year before leaving Barcelona for nothing next summer.

A move to ourselves could still be agreed:

"The club said coach Pep Guardiola did not want him. Guardiola has not told the player he is not required."If they have a serious offer from Man City and if they want to continue with this negotiation we could be interested."We haven't spoken to City but if Barca have reached an agreement it shouldn't be that difficult to reach a deal."

He would prefer to stay at Barca, but would be happy to join us if they wish to see him leave:

"I don't know if they really want Samuel to stay of if they just want to make money out of him. He would be delighted to stay if they want him and we will study their offer if it is serious, but if they don't want him we will do all we can to help Samuel find a new club. In theory he wanted to play in the Champions League, but if Manchester City have an offer accepted, we would be delighted to go there."

All clear?

The club have of course offered no comment regarding any move for Eto'o. Perhaps this is as a result of being stung in the same way following the failed attempt for Kaka. Of course, this gives us no idea of the clubs intentions - whether there is a genuine interest, how close we may be/have been to signing Eto'o and what potential there is to signing him.

It does look doubtful at this stage, yet neither Barca or Eto'o have categorically ruled out a deal which could leave an avenue open for us. I don't see though that a deal is likely to be concluded any time soon, which will clearly be frustrating, and I don't see Hughes or Cook wanting to be kept hanging around in the hope of concluding the transfer.

Eto'o press conference scheduled

The agent of Samuel Eto'o is scheduled to hold a press conference tomorrow to announce details on the strikers future. The latest media reports however, suggest that Eto'o is likely to turn down the reported £25 million bid with it being suggested that it would take a 180 degree turnaround for Eto'o to now join us.

The phrase '180 degree turnaround' is quite ambiguous though and I guess doesn't necessarily rule out Eto'o leaving Barcelona. There is the possibility that his team are very aware that Barcelona would like to sell him at this price (given he could walk for free this time next year) and they are trying to extract a 'golden handshake' payment.

Whilst Inter have been mentioned in the mix, I doubt they could match our offer (in financial terms) - particularly after failing to offload Zlatan Ibrahimovich, so signs do point at this stage to him running down his contract.

There will of course be a clearer indication this time tomorrow.

UPDATE (23:50)

timesonline reports that the deal could be dead in the water over the player's demands for upto half of the £25 million transfer fee. Excessive that may be but Eto'o is clearly in a huge position of strength here. A club desperate to secure him, a club desperate to sell, and him in the middle knowing a year from now he can pocket a signing on fee should he run his contract down.

The hope is that Barca come to an agreement with him regarding a payment which enables the transfer to go through.

Reports suggest Eto'o deal is close

It has been widely reported - with the News of The World leading the story - the past twenty-four hours or so that Samuel Eto'o is set to arrive at the club this week, along with the announcement of the signing of Carlos Tevez.

Landing Eto'o would be a fantastic capture. Still only twenty-eight years old, he would bring a proven track record and a real presence up front. He seems a versatile player, able to fit into various formations and adapt to different style. Above all, he would bring that most valuable of qualities; goals.

The timing of it certainly fits as it is believed that Mark Hughes would like to tie up all of the summer signings by the first week of July. The potential sums of money involved are frightening though, a £25 million transfer fee (he has only season left on his current deal at Barcelona), and a weekly wage of £180,000 after tax.

It could be worth keeping an eye on a deal Barcelona are rumoured to be near to completing to bring Kerrison to the Nou Camp, as he would then be used to facilitate (via a loan transfer) a deal that would see David Villa move to Barcelona, freeing up Eto'o to move on.

UPDATE (23:19)

telegraph.co.uk back this up, suggesting a deal could be announced this week:

It is understood that Eto’o has verbally agreed to the move – having hoped there would be an intervention from Inter Milan who have tried and failed to sell Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Chelsea - that will make him the highest-paid player in the Premier League and, maybe, the world. City hope to make an announcement later this week.

We could be set for an interesting July 1st.