La Liga - Barca wait for Eto'o decision

Eurosport - Tue, 30 Jun 16:04:00 2009

Barcelona have confirmed they offered Samuel Eto'o a two-year contract extension before the Cameroon striker's agent criticised them over their handling of the affair.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 La Liga Barcelona Samuel Eto'o - 0

"Barcelona are waiting for a reply from Eto'o on an offer of an extension for two years on the same salary level as before," the European champions said on their website.

Eto'o has a contract until 2010 and if he accepts would be tied until 2012.

Earlier, Eto'o's agent Jose Maria Mesalles said he had received the contract offer from Barca late on Monday after previously having been told coach Pep Guardiola did not want to keep the player.

"The player wants to stay and complete the last year of his contract," Mesalles said.

"If Barca don't want him they should say so, so we can pursue the player's future in a professional manner.

"The club said coach Pep Guardiola did not want him. Guardiola has not told the player he is not required."

He accused Barca of leaking stories to the media that cast Eto'o in a bad light and said that if the club had reached an agreement with Manchester City to sell him, Eto'o would be happy to negotiate.

"We haven't spoken to City but if Barca have reached an agreement it shouldn't be that difficult to reach a deal," Mesalles added.

Speculation over Eto'o's future escalated over the weekend when Barca president Joan Laporta said in a radio interview that Eto'o had received a 'stratospheric offer' from another club that would make him the best-paid player in the world.

Media have reported that Manchester City are offering Eto'o a five-year contract, and Barca a transfer fee of 25 million euros plus variables.

Eto'o was Barca's top scorer with 30 league goals last season as they won La Liga, the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League.

Reuters

Comment 57 - 76 of 76

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. I dont know who are those people that are advising Eto,­ man are u blind? i think u should move away from that­ club, remember how they treated Ronaldinho, believe me­ urs will be worse if u stay next season, i beg u to go­ were u will be respected, u know too well that that soo­ called coach is a racist, yes i mean, pep, pls sign any­ club that knows ur value, u are among the top 5 in the­ world, im proud of u, be wise.

    From Sunny boy, on Thu 9 Jul 11:23AM

  2. united wil make a big offer for eto'o and hopefully­ he will be a united payer next season.

    From timmiebravender, on Sun 5 Jul 3:40PM

  3. WE want Eto to stay..............now let Eto decide! If­ he stays......he deserves more respect from the club!!!

    From marilacson, on Sat 4 Jul 6:07PM

  4. Directly or indirectly Barca coach Pep has disrespected­ this man EtoŽo on a number of occasions. Rijkard­ assembled Barca from ruins and honestly speaking I was­ dissapionted with his exit. Thanks to him the present­ coach is celebrating from his hard work. Racist or not­ racist you catalonians are not fair to foreign players­ when they champion their right. Players and coaches­ come and go but Barcelona will always remain. The man­ Etoó left an indelible mark of history in Barca can­ never be taken away from him. History will judge the­ coach. EtoŽo should go after his right namely: to be­ compensated accordingly when he delivers the goals. We­ do not change a winning team. Take care

    From kenneth, on Sat 4 Jul 5:25PM

  5. mr Tim yes Messi was the overall top scorer but you­ forgot about one thing:Eto'o played only one match­ in the copa del rey competition while messi played­ almost all of them!I don't know if you matched­ every barcelona game cuz I do!and let me tell you that­ from day one they (barca club)wanted messi to be the­ best scorer than eto'o..the wanted messi to shine­ thats why the last 15 mathes the switch is position on­ the field and the put Messi has the one who should take­ penalities in replacement of eto'o!!!I hate­ barcelona!!!If eto'o leaves won't match that­ racist club again!

    From patrick, on Thu 2 Jul 12:29AM

  6. I think he needs to go and try something else like in­ italy or in the premier league, if it is true abaut­ manchester city he needs to think abaut it and go, he­ alredy won everything with barca. Him and robinho will­ make a good pair

    From jose, on Wed 1 Jul 10:05AM

  7. Etoo is a great player, but he has almost all d trophy­ in la liga so he need the money to move on. Let him go­ we all work because of money

    From lateef o, on Tue 30 Jun 11:26PM

  8. I hope Eto'o stay at Barca! Visca el Barca!!!

    From damnsoldja, on Tue 30 Jun 10:40PM

  9. Eto'o is being shelfish here, Barca have always­ treated him well. You can't have the best of both­ worlds if you are not the best and will be missing in­ the middle of the season.

    From Top Dog, on Tue 30 Jun 9:38PM

  10. If I were Etoo, I would not even consider going to­ Manchester City where he will have no chance in hell of­ playing Champions league football for a very long time­ if ever at all.. This will a bad career move for Etoo­ as he is one of the best footballers in Africa, Europe­ and the world. I put in him in the same bracket as­ Kaka, Ronaldo, Torres and Henry. It would be an insult­ to go and play for a second rated club like Manchester­ City just simply for the money. Afterall, he is already­ a multi millionaire. I would advise him to either stay­ at Barcelona or go to Liverpoo as their style of play­ will suit him to the ground and he and Torres will form­ an unbelieavble partnership with Gerrad behind them. It­ is particularly important that he does not allow his­ head to rule his heart especially with the world cup­ coming.

    From samson, on Tue 30 Jun 9:17PM

  11. Let us Respect a legend.. His a legend of Barca and the­ world of football.. Eto'o the man with the double O­ with an apostrophe which indicates the shout of­ Go'oal..

    Tobi From Nigeria

    From ClaudeB, on Tue 30 Jun 8:39PM

  12. Okay if Eto'o Leaves who will replace him. Let us­ Appreciate Black players in the world of football..­ Eto'o can be compared to any player in the world.­ He has made name even as a black man.. Two times second­ world best, won CL twice and many more trophies.. I­ think this guy is a legend at Barca and as a Barca fan­ we should respect him even if his leaving... I wont be­ happy if he leave's the club in a bad mood...­ Eto'o the only attacker with the double O and an­ apostrophe which stands for the shout of Go'oal...­ I love you Eto'o... Tobi From Nigeria

    From ClaudeB, on Tue 30 Jun 8:37PM

  13. If its salary he's after, he might as well stay and­ negotiate with City to leave on a free next year. No­ transfer fee of 25mil = huge bonus :). In any case, by­ that time they'll figure out which of RSC / Tevez /­ Bellamy etc they actually want to keep.

    From G, on Tue 30 Jun 7:56PM

  14. As a Barca fan I would love Eto to stay. As a player I­ would say leave for the $$$$. Eto is 28 and has no­ guarantee his next season performance or injuries which­ could devalue him next year. Take the $$$$ and run. You­ already won the treble and conquered Spanish football.­ Now its time to show your skills in another part of the­ globe!!!! So Barca makes money from the transfer who­ cares. So will the player!! Its a business and you cant­ fall in love with a team. You have to move on!! ETO!!!­ A TRUE FORWARD!!! HE WOULD DESTROY THE PREMIERSHIP!!!

    From bass_alick, on Tue 30 Jun 7:07PM

  15. Eto'o stay until 2010 and complete your current­ contract. It is an insult to force you
    out 'cause­ of one Villa with heavy feet at the just concluded­ confederations cup tourney. Somebody should tell Barca­ to learn from the Madrid experience over Robinho. Dont­ bite the finger that has fed you. As for you Pep, the­ whole world is watching you. We would see how you end­ it up at Nou Camp; better seek guidance from the likes­ of Rijkaard.

    "Tunji Nosiru

    From TUNJI NOSIRU, on Tue 30 Jun 6:00PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    i feel sorry that people think we are racist
    its all­ becoz barca threat their players dadly
    but that­ doesn't talk about the whole spain

    From getachew44, on Tue 30 Jun 5:41PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    we are racist so what is the big deal?
    we love­ ourself
    if you don't like that you can leave
    even­ messi can leave
    who care
    we care more only about our­ catalan players
    iniesta and xavi are better than the­ triot messi eto and henry
    i mean what i said
    if i said­ something different it means its some eals using my­ name

    From getachew44, on Tue 30 Jun 4:47PM

  18. I think Eto should wake up on time. We had lot of­ rumours about adding him to some amount of money to­ complete a transfer for another player, what a shame­ for a calibre of his player. I am neither a Barcelona­ nor Man City fan but must advice Eto to move to Man­ City.
    You don't need to tell a blind man that the­ market has closed, though he is blind but he is not­ deaf.
    -DJ.

    From dejiolaoti, on Tue 30 Jun 4:34PM

  19. Barca is trying to make profit out of Eto. He should­ reject the new contract and see his current contract­ out then leave on free. Then he will be able to make­ more instead of the money going to Barca. Why wait till­ now in offering new contract. Similar thing Manu did to­ Tevez.

    From dapfash, on Tue 30 Jun 4:26PM

  20. Soccer is a wonderful game that has been so business­ inclined this day&time. i just wanna tell Eto'o­ not to bullied into signing any contract. What i know­ is that the present didn't belief in him and he­ proof him wrong.
    Home boy Eto'o finish your­ contract and leave a free agent next year. you've­ left a legacy in Barca. You've been a champion from­ the word go.
    You championed the fight against racism in­ soccer and its now big, so don't hurry. I can't­ compare your achievements to any other person but­ u.
    Know that you're the uncle of Late FOE's­ kids. They are looking to you.
    Africans are looking­ forward to see you in England next. They want you to­ speak english which is one of your official language in­ cameroon. Go Eto'o Go.
    Muito Obrigado!!
    Lumumba,­ cape town South Africa!!Ola!!

    From julius c, on Tue 30 Jun 4:21PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account