DID INTER MILAN OFFER REAL MADRID SAMUEL ETO´O FOR 25M€? IF TRUE, WHY DID REAL MADRID REJECT THE OFFER?

The rumour is hot in Italy, so hot that it has not gone away even after the players transfer period window shut last Wednesday the 1st of September. Did INTER MILAN really offer SAMUEL ETO´O to REAL MADRID? It’s the talk of the “Calcio”, gossip that has reached Spanish media who are now analyzing if true & if Real Madrid missed a bargain.

The apparent idea according to the rumour was that Inter Milan desired to receive 25M€ for the sale of Eto´o to Real Madrid & in turn invest that acquired money to sign Brazilian Robinho & thus take the player away from arch rival AC Milan. A valid strategy if you consider that now AC Milan has a formidable forward line with Pato, Ibrahimovic & Robinho with the potential to seriously compete with Inter for the “Scudetto” & other titles.

What about Real Madrid? The suspected reasons behind the rejection of Samuel Eto´o are:
• His elevated price – 25M€ - according to Real Madrid
• His age, 29 years old
two reasons which at first sight lack sufficient weight to explain a rejection of this magnitude & quality of player.

Real Madrid Coach José Mourinho wanted a third forward, a true Nº9 that would complement Higuain & Benzema, especially if one of them got injured, in order to remain competitive in all three competitions: La Liga, Spanish Cup & Champions League. The idea was to have a “substitute” forward ready to come on when needed, & here seems to be the REAL problem; that someone like Eto´o would never take comfortably the role of being a substitute. Real Madrid directives may have rejected Samuel Eto´o, however attractive that it could have been, because the player is a dressing room “time-bomb” waiting to explode in such conditions. This, & his past “anti – Real Madrid” comments while at FC Barcelona, may have shut the door as the player may have earned himself some enemies at Madrid who do not forgive.

From a solely Football perspective Eto´o would have been a great asset for Real Madrid. However, the costs in the long run may have been greater than the benefits, look at Ibrahimovic with Barça, “strong personality” players take their past baggage with them – past & future. Tweet

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SFS FLASHBACKS: SAMUEL ETO´O : VIDEO 2º GOAL INTER MILAN LIVORNO

Source: Spanish Football Sports Blog /
What is ex Real Madrid, Mallorca & FC Barcelona star forward SAMUEL ETO´O dong these days? The player is at Inter Milan & apparently after a good start to the season, suffered a mid-season rough patch & now seems to be coming back to his very best. Great timing for Inter who will welcome his goals while they fight out the Italian Serie A title & attempt to further go on in Champions League.

Yesterday Eto´o scored two goals in Inter Milan 3-1 victory over Livorno in Serie A. Check this VIDEO of this magnificent 2º goal by the ex-Barca star...:



Many Barça fans & local Sports commentators have voiced that they miss Eto´o this season upfront for Barcelona. Some comment that Ibrahimovic hasn´t the diverse habilities for Spanish Football - obviously the Swede is still adapting - that Eto´o has & the defensive qualities of an attacker.

If your a Barça fan, do you miss Eto´o? Tweet

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2009: SAMUEL ETOÓ COULD HELP KNOCK OUT FC BARCELONA

Many a time here on SFS the comparisons with Football & Life have
been highlighted, with the emphasis on how things can turn 360º in
a matter of days &/or months. The ousted & now ex-FC BARCELONA
forward SAMUEL ETOÓ could play a part tonight in eliminating his
ex-Club if his current employer, Italian Champions INTER MILAN,
defeat Barça in their Group Champions League game.

(photo: as.com)

Paradoxical really that the ex-Camp Barça hero could score for
Inter & create shockwaves throughout the Football World knocking
out the Current European Champions so early in the Group stage.
For FC Barcelona this would be a hard blow that may cause short-term
“wobbles” that could have bad results in the “Liga” competition with
Real Madrid to be played next Sunday. In fact, there is uncertainty if
stars Ibrahimovic or Messi can play tonight due to injuries, although
the former has a higher probability. Either way, destiny has put the
chips on the table with a grand game expected between theses two
Football giants where anything can happen & either team could win.
From SFS I wish Barça all the best as I desire Spanish teams to go all

the way.

Samuel Etoó tonight will be the focus, the returning son, the man
who can change the course of both Clubs, one onto glory while with
the other out to the cold. Life & Football, funny how each keep on
building stages for you to perform.

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INTER MILAN: TOTAL AGREEMENT WITH ETO´O: CIAO GOODLUCK IN ITALY

INTER MILAN & FC BARCELONA forward SAMUEL ETO´O have
come to an agreement to transfer over to Italy next season. In fact,
Eto´o will be an Inter player for the next 5 years & will earn 10.5M€
plus incentives. This shuts the whole long & complex process of
negotiations between the Italian Club & player that had on hold
(stand-by) & waiting ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC who will now fly to
Barcelona to sign his contract with Barça which has already been
worked out & agreed a few days ago.















It is speculated that Eto´o may fly into Milan in the weekend & sign
his contract next Monday where he will be officially presented to
the media & fans. The operation, which includes the loan of HLEB,
is finally valued at 87.5M€, a record for FC Barcelona.

So it´s GOODBYE to Samuel Eto´o, thanks for all your time here &
all your fabulous goals. SFS wishes Eto´o all the luck in the World in
his new adventure at Inter Milan. Tweet

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INTER MILAN & ETO´O BACK ON COURSE AFTER "TECHNICAL PROBLEMS"

A new chapter in the space of hours with the Inter Milan – Samuel Etoó
– FC Barcelona – Ibrahimovic transfer operation. According to all the
news from Italy & picked up locally, there has been a significant
advance in the negotiations after Inter Milan Directives & Eto´o
representative unblocked certain issues (see below post) the hours
ago put the whole deal in danger, forcing FC Barcelona to make a
supposed 75M€ offer for Ibrahimovic.
























The situation at this moment is the following:

1. Eto´o will not demand that FC Barcelona pay him 10M€ to end
his contract. This issue was the big problem as Barça refuses to pay
2. Instead to recompense that loss the player asks Inter Milan to pay
him 60M€ for the next 5 years
3. To make up that increase, Inter will up the transfer price of
Ibrahimovic for FC Barcelona. That is, Barça will pay the difference.
If it is true that under the pressure Barça offered 75€ for Ibrahimovic,
that has sent a message that money exists thus Inter will ask for more
(naturally the unofficial version)

Everything now points that Samuel Eto´o will end up at Inter Milan
& thus open the doors of FC Barcelona to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The
Italian Club & Eto´o´s representative will meet tomorrow again to
hopefully shut the deal once & for all - hopefully! Tweet

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THE INTER MILAN - ETO´O - FC BARCELONA - IBRAHIMOVIC TRANSFER OPERATION IN DANGER

A new & dramatic twist (click) to the Inter Milan – Samuel Eto´o
– FC Barcelona – Ibrahimovic – Hleb transfer operation. As
mentioned in the below post INTER MILAN & SAMUEL ETO´O have
an agreement & everything looked set to be shut in hours, the
only problem is with FC BARCELONA who refuse to pay the 10M€
that Eto´o asks for in order to give up his year of contract. The
original source is from Italy - "La Gazzetta dello Sport" - & Barça
officials deny offer & the story. Let´s suppose it true...

The NO from FC Barcelona has forced the Club to go after
IBRAHIMOVIC with Hleb still in the operation but WITHOUT Samuel
Eto´o. This radically changes the offer as Barça will propose to
Inter Milan 75M€ for Ibrahimovic plus the loan of Hleb with the
option of a buy. This obviously cancels the initial agreement between
Inter & Eto´o & puts onto the stage various questions

a) Will Inter want to sell Ibrahimovic if there is no guarantee
substitute for them?
b) What will Guardiola do if Eto´o stays? Apparently Eto´o wishes to

see Guardiola, hear his words & the reasons that he is not wanted.
c) Where will Barça get the money if they don´t sell Eto´o?
More debt?
d)Not willing to pay 50M€ for Villa, but 75M€ for Ibrahimovic?
Strange don´t you think? How does Villa feel at this moment?

As excepted Samuel Eto´o is proving to be a tough nut to crack,
as he has FC Barcelona by the balls. He knows that as of the 1st of
January 2010 he is a free agent to negotiate with which ever Club
he chooses & Barça sees zero cash, he can wait patiently but
Barcelona cannot.

It seems it is all payback time & suffering that is returning to
the FC Barcelona directives that have badly mistreated Samuel Eto´o
this summer & poorly handled the whole "contract - out the back door
situation".

Stay tuned for developments as things may EXPLODE in Barcelona.
SFS thinks (suspects) that Barça will be forced to pay Eto´o the 10M€ he
asks for & that Eto´o will finally go to Inter; or else it’s Samuel Eto´o
another year at Barcelona & with all the dressing room problems that it
will bring, not to mention the zero cash transfer from a free player.

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INTER MILAN & SAMUEL ETO´O HAVE AGREEMENT

From Italy – La Gazzetta dello Sport – the news is that INTER MILAN &
FC Barcelona forward SAMUEL ETO´O have come to an agreement,
something that as yet hasn’t been picked up locally as certain.

The Italian information is that Eto´o will sign a contract until 2014 &
earn a cool 10M€/year in salary plus bonuses (incentives). It is
speculated that Samuel Eto´o may fly into Milan tonight for the
medical exam & could be announced officially in the coming hours.

Before this can happen & supposing our Italian friends are correct,
Eto´o will need to shut the final piece of the negotiations with
FC Barcelona. The player claims a premium of about 10M€ (SFS
suspects it could be higher) from Barça for giving up the year left
in his contract.

Stay tuned!

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ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC TO FC BARCELONA: NOW IT DEPENDS ON ETO´O

Hi, back from a weekend in the countryside, back to the Spanish
Football posting & the FC BARCELONA news last Friday that with
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC both were close to commencing a new
relationship. Here is the latest situation: FC BARCELONA & INTER
MILAN has agreed to the idea of 45M€ + SAMUEL ETO ´O + a one
year loan (with buying option) of ALEXANDER HLEB. So what’s
stopping that it be officially announced & sealed ? The answer is
Samuel Eto´o.

The Cameroon forward needs to shut his particular deal with Inter
Milan, something that will commence as of tomorrow with face to
face meetings with Barça Directives & later with Inter Milan to
work out an agreement. Samuel Eto´o – according to “AS” – will not
make things easy for all the parties concerned as he will ask the
Italians 15M€ in transfer commissions & then a 10M€/year contract.
Of course, it’s a two way street as Zlatan Ibrahimovic will have
to sit down with FC Barcelona & negotiate his conditions as well,
but the Swede will be easier than Samuel Eto´o.

Having written this most media observers believe the deal will
finally go through as FC Barcelona do not want Eto´o & Inter Milan
is the only existing option & Club with Champions participation &
sufficient Football prestige that wish his services for next season.

Stay tuned!

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FC BARCELONA & INTER MILAN SHUT AGREEMENT FOR IBRAHIMOVIC: 40M€ + SAMUEL ETO´O & LOAN OF HLEB. GOODBYE DAVID VILLA

FC BARCELONA has come to an agreement with INTER MILAN for the
transfer of ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC as advanced last night & confirmed
this morning by Barcelona based daily “Sport” & TV news media,
although we haven’t as yet an official Club statement. Everything
occurred last night when Barça President Laporta & his team made a
stop from the Ukraine at Milan to have dinner with Inter President
Moratti where the operation was shut.

Beforehand two important things had to happen. Firstly, VALENCIA
CF rejected a 43M€ offer from Barça for Spanish International DAVID
VILLA, & SAMUEL ETO ´O accepted to leave the Club & be
transferred. With these two prerequisites in place FC BARCELONA
offered INTER MILAN 40M€ + SAMUEL ETO´O, plus the loan for one
year of its player ALEXANDER HLEB for the Inter Milan & Swedish
International ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC. The Italian Champion Club
accepted the offer with the authorization of its Coach Mourinho &
Ibrahimovic is said to have reduced his economic pretensions to be
able to land at “Camp Barça”. Now the final details of the operation
will be shut within the next 72 hours to make it all formal & 100%
water tight that will lead to an official Club presentation next week
at Barcelona of their "new" player.

All this means that DAVID VILLA has missed the second great
train of opportunity to play in one of Spain´s great Clubs. Firstly,
the operation shut with Real Madrid was foiled in the last minute by
Valencia, & secondly Valencia refused FC Barcelona´s offer of 43M€
wanting instead something above 50-55M€. In both cases, Real Madrid
& FC Barcelona had substitute plans & decided not to wait & be
“pushed around” to exercise their alternative operations in Karim
Benzema & Zlatan Ibrahimovic respectively. David Villa will be
steaming & angry with Valencia CF, but many suspect & confess that
the Spanish International was not pro-active enough in both said
cases & didn’t do enough to force the situation at Valencia, plus
many media sources blame the terrible management of his
representative Jose Luis Tamago, something that Villa should now
solve.

With Samuel Eto´o saying yes to the Inter Milan operation, FC
Barcelona avoids an explosive situation & avoids Eto´o turning up to
the beginning of pre-season training next Monday to confront his
now ex-Coach Josep Guardiola. Samuel Eto´o finishes his “golden
period” at "Camp Barça" in a not to glamorous fashion but at least he
goes to a Top European Team that is in Champions, a Club that will
pay him his economic pretensions & allow a new opportunity for
Eto´o to continue triumphing in World Football.

In the coming days we will receive more information of this lighting
transfer operation & receive the comments from Club directives &
from the actual players involved. Spanish Football gets another World
Class player that only lifts its level further & makes the beginning of
the new LIGA season more worthwhile & exciting for all Football fans.

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FC BARCELONA: MANCHESTER CITY WITHDRAWS OFFER FOR ETO´O

News from England (click) & concretely MANCHESTER CITY via its
executive Garry Cook informs that the English Premier League Club
has withdrawn its interest in FC BARCELONA forward SAMUEL
ETO´O. The English Club gave Eto´o an ultimatum to make a
decision as Man City could not wait any longer. The official
communication expresses that Eto´o is a great player but the
circumstances surrounding his Club & the player have complicated
the process to come to a mutual agreement. The Club now changes
course & follows other objectives in its plan to build a strong team
for next seasons Premier League.

This now lowers the options of Clubs for Samuel Eto´o to go to, if
it is true that he has communicated to FC Barcelona his intention to
leave as published by Barcelona based daily´s “Sport” & “Mundo
Deportivo” this morning in their print editions (see SFS post below).
The two rumoured Clubs left are AC MILAN who has as their Nº1
choice Luis Fabiano of Sevilla FC & MANCHESTER UNITED which
hasn’t as yet put in a formal offer according to media sources.

Bad karma, & a potentially explosive situation on the horizon if not
solved, as the discarded option of staying to finish his year left
of contract returns as a viable alternative. This last choice would
torpedo Barça ambitions of entering in a significant manner into
the transfer market (eg Villa, Ribery...etc) because they have a
limited budget & depend heavily on the money that can be
generated from a Eto´o transfer to be able to invest.

Let’s follow & see how things evolve in the coming days in this
"strange" & awkward situation that is getting the Club onto the
headlines for all the wrong reasons. Stay tuned!

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SAMUEL ETO´O IS TIRED OF THE LIES & WILL LEAVE FC BARCELONA NEXT SEASON

SAMUEL ETO ´O has had enough according to the daily “Sport”.
Enough of the lies, the “shocking” PR campaign being built &
distributed by FC BARCELONA Directives – especially President
Laporta – to create the image that Eto´o is a conflictive character,
an individualist & doesn´t renew because he is a money grabber.
Add to this, it’s the second time that the Club wishes to “kick”
the player out the backdoor in order to get the money needed
from the sale of Eto´o in order to do signings (example VIlla).

The news from “Sport” is that Samuel Eto´o has communicated with
Football Director Txiki Bergiristain to let him know that he will not
play at FC BARCELONA next season, he feels he has been betrayed
by the Club & doesn’t wish to play were he is not wanted.

Where will he go? MANCHESTER CITY is willing to pay Barça 25M€
for the transfer & 10M€/salary to Eto´o & has given the player an
ultimatum to say yes/no in 24 hours.Why? Because AC MILAN has
come into the picture & its Top Executive Galliani will be in the
city of Barcelona this weekend & it is speculated that negotiations
will be accelerated, although they also have Luis Fabiano of Sevilla
FC as a possibility. Lastly, there maybe interest from MANCHESTER
UNITED, but this hasn’t gone beyond an inquiry by the English Club.

The problem for Manchester City is that although they pay him the
most Eto´o wishes to play in Champions League & with other Clubs
in the hunt, Man City wishes to "force" Eto´o to make up this
mind – take it or leave it.Therefore we all expect in the next couple
of hours &/or even days to have more news on Samuel Eto´o
departure, however before he leaves Eto´o is expected to give a
press conference from Paris on the 15th of July that will be
explosive & may bring out to public very embarrassing issues that
President Laporta,Bergiristain & Guardiola wish to be kept quiet.
What is obvious is that FC BARCELONA - independent of its rhetoric
of more than just a Club - show again that loyalty & being the
greatest Nº9 in Barça´s history with 2 vital goals that gave them
2 European Cups are not values. Samuel Eto´o if all this is correct

(SFS takes it source from Barcelona sporting daily´s) will join
other greats that left by the backdoor; Maradona, Schuster,
Laudrup, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho...a worrying recurrence.

Stay tuned!

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FC BARCELONA: SAMUEL ETO ´O & SIGNS OF BAD MANAGEMENT III

Does anyone remember that FC BARCELONA won “The Big 3” titles
– Spanish League, Spanish Cup & Champions League - last year? Today
REAL MADRID presents their first new signing KAKÁ & there is no
place on the World media for anything else, except the news
conference that SAMUEL ETO ´O´s representative has given this
morning to give their version of what some are already calling the
first pre-season "Barça crisis". How can FC Barcelona be in crisis after
finishing their most successful season in their history?

(photo: reuters)

Samuel Eto´o via his representative gave a Press Conference this
morning to tell media their story & put a few things straight:

1. Samuel Eto´o wishes (wants) to stay at FC Barcelona
2. He hasn’t asked for more money at all. Not a word.
3. That FC Barcelona via President Laporta & his team are
manipulating the media to discredit Eto´o & thus find excuses
to sell the player at all cost. They are inventing stories.
4. That they don´t really believe Coach Guardiola has said he does
not want the player, as Guardiola has´nt pronounced himself &
they only know what the Club directives have told them
5. That President Laporta lies when he talks about Manchester City
& the multi-million offer because the English Club hasn’t spoken to
the player at all.
6. It´s an offence to publicly say that Barça will accept a 30M€ offer
from Manchester City when Barça are willing to pay around 45M€ for
a new forward (David Villa). SFS says, why does FC Barcelona want
DAVID VILLA when they already have Samuel Eto´o? The only reason
seems to be to take the former away from Real Madrid & to attempt
to "stick it up em", the signing efforts doesn´t enter into any Football
or Team strategy plan for next season. The African Cup? Yes, but not
sufficient - my opinion!
7. Eto´o has said that he will never be an obstacle for the Club & will
study all offers as long as they suit him & his future interest. Said
another way, Eto ´o OK to leave if Barça doesn´t want him BUT
he decides his future not the Club.

Serious stuff that highlight the “bad management” of Laporta & the
disgraceful treatment that they are handing out to their star forward,
a player who has bagged them 30 goals & helped win them the
Champions League. What is clear is that FC BARCELONA is “shit
scared” to see Eto´o walk away FREE next year & wishes to sell ASAP
to gain a return. A return they wish to reinvest for signings with the
main priority DAVID VILLA, which they can’t for now because they
have no budget. So “scared” was President Laporta when Eto´o
announced that his representative would call a press conference this
morning that last night he did a “flip turn” & offered a two year
extension of Eto´o ´s contract without changing the economic
conditions. Shameful & not dignified of a Club with this greatness
& the prestige of FC BARCELONA.

While problems come out from every corner for FC Barcelona –
Valdes, Ribery says no, Eto´o, no clear new signing in sight, lack of
budget…etc – Real Madrid blasts Barça off the World Football stage
& media with the presentation of Kaká today, Albiol mid-week,
Cristiano Ronaldo next Monday…& god knows what else. President
Laporta will be watching & many will hope he sticks to his own
deals & forgets about the rival. But past experience leads us to think
that Laporta will fall into the trap & charge with “outrageous”
comments of imperialism, a central government run Club & pomposity,
etc. to cover what appears to be his (their) bad management &
unhealthy envy. This is not proper of FC Barcelona & we all hope
that this “green poison” doesn’t slip into the dressing room this
pre-season & into the official competition.

Many are wishing that Coach Guardiola comes back from his holidays
& back to work in order to solve some unknowns & put the house in
order. Which makes one think: FC Barcelona needs its Coach to

fix the Clubs problems? Bad start already to the season; lets hope
Coach Guardiola starts well Football wise because if not I don’t
even want to speculate what will be said & could happen to their
"new messiah".

Does anyone remember that FC Barcelona won “The Big 3” last
season?

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FC BARCELONA "PUSHING" SAMUEL ETO´O TO MANCHESTER CITY & OUT THE "BACK DOOR".

After publicly commenting that SAMUEL ETO ´O is for him the “Best
Forward in the World” & that he would like the player to finish his
career at FC BARCELONA, President Laporta has said in reference
to the news from England that Eto´o should accept the offer from
MANCHESTER CITY. Curious & obvious that FC BARCELONA is
pushing Samuel Eto´o to leave the Club at whatever opportunity
as published today on “AS”.

British paper “News of The World” ( not exactly the most credible
source) publish that MANCHESTER CITY has offered FC BARCELONA
30M€ & Samuel Eto´o a staggering 10M€/year salary. This has lead
Barça President to comment on Catalan radio that it’s an offer of a
lifetime & that Eto´o should consider it. What leads to suspicion is
the relative low transfer figure of 30M€ when the Cameroon player
is worth more, around 45-50M€, leading most to suspect that FC
Barcelona wishes to get rid of Eto´o at “any price”.

However, there are Football facts that may lead Samuel Eto´o to
reject the Manchester City offer independently of the alleged
cash offer:

1. Manchester City , until now hasn’t a team of guarantees to fight
for titles, although the English team is working on it.
2. Manchester City will not be in any European competition, &
Eto´o desires play
3. Eto´o may decide to wait for other offers: Manchester United,
Inter Milan, AC Milan, etc
4. Eto´o may decide to stay & exercise the rest of his contract
(1 year left) to become a Free agent next season
5. Eto´o may decide to stay & TORPEDO Barça´s plans to get the
30M€ cash income from the operation to use for DAVID VILLA.
Remember Eto´o has a long memory of how the Club badly
treated him last season & how again this year the Club is showing
" disrespect" towards him.

Stay tuned!

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DAVID VILLA: THE STORY & SITUATION WITH THE TRANSFER SAGA: PART III

The DAVID VILLA transfer saga takes another twist with the digital
edition of “Marca” announcing that FC BARCELONA has come out
of the shadows officially & made a 43M€ offer to VALENCIA CF.
The "breakdown" of negotiations with Real Madrid & the apparent
desire by Valencia CF to sell to any one except Real Madrid has
given Barça the stimulus to “go for it”, as they - Barcelona - claim
against all other stories that the player desires & wishes to play at
“Camp Barça” & not at Madrid.

(photo: reuters/marca.com)

However there are numerous variables & unknows at play:

1. No one knows exactly where Villa wishes to play, if at Real
Madrid or FC Barcelona.The rumours have always been Real Madrid,
but in the last days FC Barcelona has gained strength.
2.No one really believes that Real Madrid have pulled out of the
negotiations & they maybe keeping its cards up its sleeve. SFS
believes Real Madrid is still in there talking with Valencia CF in
a very "low key manner"
3.FC Barcelona hasn’t the money & will need to sell Samuel Eto´o
to get the cash & more importantly make a place available in the
line –up team. What if Eto´o decides to stay?
4.What is clear is that David Villa WILL NOT be leaving Spain; he
just said & confirmed this to Spanish TV “Cuarto”.

5.Everyone – including SFS – will have to wait for Villa’s return
from South Africa & see the outcome of his conversations with
Valencia CF to determine what decision he takes.
6. It is obvious that the player will have to make the move - force
the situation & rebel - with a decision if he has one. He will have to

go public & express to everyone his true desires.

Until then, everything written & said is pure speculation. What is
certain is that David Villa will be playing in one of these Clubs next
season: Valencia CF, Real Madrid or FC Barcelona.

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SAMUEL ETO´O TO AC MILAN 2010? INTER?

The Silvio Berlusconi owned Sportmediaset.it has published that
SAMUEL ETO´O may be on course to land at AC MILAN in the year
2010. According to “Mundo Deportivo” who has picked up the
news, the Italian Club has put itself in contact with Eto´o ´s
representative to begin discussing the terms, conditions that include
arriving at Italy FREE of transfer fee which would help increase his
salary package. Therefore, this signals the idea that Samuel Eto´o
will “hold out” & continue another year at Barça in accord with
his contract even if his Coacxh Guardiola does not wish to have
him & this may see him on the bench.

(photo: Alberto Estevez EFE)

This maybe a way of Samuel Eto ´o signalling to Barça that their
behaviour towards him has been less than gentlemanly. By accepting
to continue at Barça to comply with his legal contract & not
accepting a renewal (which Barça hasn’t offered) Eto´o becomes
a “free agent” on the 1st of January of 2010 allowing the player to
negotiate with any Club he desires. This will allow Eto´o to finish
his contract on the 30th of June of 2010 & leave FREE with NO NEED
to pay FC Barcelona. This is a true managerial disaster for Barça,
who could have done things better. Samuel Eto´o does not forget
easily how the Club has been treating him of late.

If this story is true & Eto´o does go ahead with the plan, FC
Barcelona could put its “Public Relations” machinery at work &

divert the difficulties onto the player: too high his economic
pretensions, dressing room problems, lifestyle problems, egotistical
behaviour…etc.

Just a note. The summer will be long & everything could change:)

Note- French paper "L´Equipe" publish that ETO´O is negotiating
with INTER MILAN. It is said his rep went to Milan on Monday to
talk with Moratti. The conditions speculated are a 5 year contract,
with Eto´o asking for 65M€ in those 5 seasons. Stay tuned!

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FC BARCELONA, GUARDIOLA, SAMUEL ETO´O & "VIVA LA VIDA"

FC Barcelona must be on top of the World, literally, that is from its
President down to the dressing room cleaner onto to the healthy
everyday street fan. What they have achieved in season 2008-2009
is simply amazing & in Spanish Football it is historical. Never before
has a Spanish team won the “Big 3” in one single season; the
Champions League Cup (European Cup), the Spanish League & the
Spanish Cup. They are currently placed by nearly everyone – media
& fan – as the “Best Team in the World” & all under the supervision
& guiding hand of first year Coach Josep Guardiola, which is in
itself an amazing achievement.

An important part of this success has been the coming together of
some exceptional Football players that have blended with each
other contributing with their youth, experience, their dedication &
professionalism towards the concept of the TEAM. Many players like
Pique, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Busquest – just to mention a few – have
exploded to bring forth all their natural talent onto the field & the
World stage. Others like Henry have reborn to find their magic at the
right time, along with Marquez, Toure, Pujol, etc. It has been like
the alignment of the planets that focused all the teams “solar force”
into one single aim: to conquer the Football World with the most
brilliant & effective Football play of the season.

One of these stars, or better said aligned planets, is called SAMUEL
ETO´O. SFS has been super critical with this player before & has
heavily criticised him here for his “out of tone words” & apparent
“egotistical” behaviour that at times strayed from the team
philosophy in the past. Last year SAMUEL ETO´O was told by the
then new Coach Guardiola that he was not wanted by the Club &
should find a way to leave along with Deco & Ronaldinho. Emotionally
upset - & hurt – Eto´o took the decision to continue onward & prove
everyone wrong. Sure, he did not find a suitable Club to go to, &
yes his economic pretensions were high, something he would later
prove to all of us why this is the case. With the decision taken to
continue on in a Club that didn’t wish that you were there, Eto´o
has matured finally at his 27 years of age into a excellent professional
Football team player.

The 2008 – 2009 season has seen the metamorphosis of Samuel Eto´o;
winning a permanent place in the team, becoming a vital piece of
the Barça machine, scoring an amazing 30 goals & putting in – again,
as in the 2006 final – the first & steering Champions League goal

against Manchester United in Rome to cement the Barça victory. The
often past outspoken & controversial Eto´o had finished the season
as a concentrated, quiet spoken & an influential team member that
was a pillar of the Barça “Big 3” success. His behaviour is admirable
& worth of praise from anyone who witnessed the personal
transformation of the player this last season.

With the euphoria settled & FC Barcelona back to work planning for
the new season, Coach Guardiola again announces to Club Directives
that he does not count on Samuel Eto´o for the new season, there
is no personal “feeling” & this in itself is not the way to prize the
player that helped put you & Barça back on the map & into the
Football “Olympus”. The Club Directives who now see their new
rookie coach as their “Sir Alex Fergusen” of the 21 st Century have
no personality of their own & only see this as the opportunity to
“cash in” on Eto´o before January 2010 & sell him at a “juicy” price,
thus not risking that the player finishes his contract on June 2010 with
the right to leave for free, that is, zero € for FC Barcelona. While the
player wishes to stay while at Cameroon with his national team, Eto´o
is without the chance to react & “defend” himself & the Club meets
with INTER MILAN to discuss the coming of a new Forward
– IBRAHIMOVIC - to put Eto´o on the negotiations table without
consulting the players views. The “Clubs moves” are so obvious &
unethical that President Laporta continues to say publicly that he would
love Eto´o to stay but the Club must study options & diverts the blame
to Eto´o by saying that his economic pretensions for a contract
extension & renewal are too high. Meanwhile under the same
breathe; Laporta & his team are talking with Ibrahimovic, Luca
Toni, Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, etc. Is this the projected FC
Barcelona way? Is this the “rubbish marketing brainwashing message”
of “We Are One”, or even the cultural fabric & spiritual call of Barça
“More Than a Club”? Is this how Barça prize their players who
contribute to give them their glory?

No one here is naïve, neither SFS nor Eto´o who is a professional.
This is Football & this sport is about business, money & staying at the
top by which ever means necessary, this is all clear. But what it all
does signal is that the foundations on which the now “Great FC
Barcelona” & its “Grand Coach Guardiola” stand on are not so steady
as we were lead to believe & may soon have us see the beginnings
of the “wobbles” with the selling of Samuel Eto´o if it goes ahead.

Samuel Eto´o is a vital piece for the playing system of FC Barcelona,
a fighting & defending forward that when the dirty work is done
actually manages to bag lots of goals, & any decent Coach knows it.
He is a natural born leader with a strong character that on the field
drags others when they need to be lifted. Will Ibrahimovic do all
this? It is no secret that Ibrahimovic is not much of a team building
person & is on a mission; his mission. Will Diego Forlan be
comfortable defending as much as attacking? In a nutshell, who will
do all that Eto´o does for the team & score more than 15-20 goals
on average per season?

Coach Guardiola is showing us that he is definitely a man born &
raised in the Club. A man that eats, sleeps & shits FC Barcelona & its
culture, their “true” culture. Here will be their downfall, & the
beginning of a “humanizing” lesson that Football will teach the
“Rookie Coach”. You must do what you preach, act as you talk &
lead by example to keep the unit together from exploding into its
component pieces. The Clubs public insinuations that Samuel Eto´o
is not wanted & negotiations with INTER are humiliating & are no
way to threat a team member who put you into your glorious throne.
The Club if it is really true to all its slogans has to abide by them
& prove them via actions,with human actions that surpasses the
“win at all costs ethos”. This is the "stuff" that the great Clubs are
made off!

I now truly understand why Coach Guardiola enjoys so much the
song by Coldplay “Viva La Vida”. He should listen closely to the lyrics
& the message that the song transmits:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sweep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!

"One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of sand, pillars of sand

Viva la vida clip officiel

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FC BARECLONA: IBRAHIMOVIC 30M€ & ETO´O?

The Italian press places ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC at FC BARCELONA
next season (click here). The deal would go down for 30M€ & the
loan for a year of Barça forward SAMUEL ETO´O. The latter ends
contract next year & Barça hasn’t approached the player to renew
his contract as yet. In fact, news filtered to local media says that
Coach Guardiola has manifested to Barcelona Directives that he
doesn’t wish to have Samuel Eto´o in his team for next year.

(photo: marca.es)

Many are surprised at the news that Eto´o is not wished for next
season. The player was an example of professionalism this season
after the Guardiola expressed the same desire last year, & proved
is value with 30 goals & driving the team in its European
Champions Final victory. As perplexed as you maybe, another
possible destination for Eto´o is MANCHESTER CITY, Club sounding
strongly in the English press, as Barça would wish to gain the best
return for its player, & Man City maybe willing to pay > than 30M€!

Back to Ibrahimovic, he is the player Guardiola sees as the perfect
substitute for Eto´o, but will have to compete with REAL MADRID
who also sees the INTER MILAN forward as a potential player that
enters perfectly into their future plans.

Check out why all the FUZZ:



Stay tuned!

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DIEGO FORLAN LEADS "PICHICHI" & "EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT" 2009. CAN ETO´O CATCH & OVERTAKE?

One of yesterdays big turning points in Round 37 of the Spanish
League happened in the race for this season “Pichichi” title. This
is the local name given to the player who scores the most goals in
the Spanish League for the season. Until yesterday FC Barcelona
player Samuel Eto´o was leading the table with his 29 goals, just
one ahead of Atletico de Madrid Uruguayan International forward
Diego Forlan.

(photo:elmundo.es)
















Today, this has dramatically changed & with an added "twist".
DIEGO FORLAN scored an impressive HAT – TRICK against At.Bilbao
yesterday, while SAMUEL ETO ´O remained scoreless in his game
against Osasuna. The Atletico forward NOW heads the table with 31
goals & has a 2 goal advantage over the FC Barcelona player. The
mentioned twist is that DIEGO FORLAN is in “EUROPEAN GOLDEN
BOOT” numbers as well & if next week in the Spanish Leagues final
Round the Uruguayan can keep ahead of Eto ´o, both the “Pichichi”
& “Euro Golden Boot” will go to Forlan.

Here is the current “Pichichi” table with one Round left next
week of the Spanish League:
1 Diego Forlan (Atletico de Madrid) 31 goals
2.Samuel Eto´o (FC Barcelona) 29 goals
3.David Villa (Valencia CF) 26 goals
4.Leo Messi (FC Barcelona) 23 goals
5.Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid ) 20 goals

Here is a VIDEO of yesterdays At.Bilbao 1 - At.Madrid 4 game
were Forlan scored his HAT-TRICK:


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FC BARCELONA: FORLAN THE SUBSTITUTE FOR ETO ´O?

Our speculative friends at “AS” are adamant that FC BARCELONA
has plans to sell SAMUEL ETO ´O at the end of the season. They
base their argument on purely economic reasons, that if Barça
doesn’t sell & transfer, they will not get a single cent for the player
as he is free to go were he wishes as from Janaury 1st because he
finishes contract at Barcelona next year. The Club wants to take
advantage of the success of Eto´o this season & his European profile
to sell at the highest price possible to the highest bidder.

Having said this, “AS” publish that FC BARCELONA already has a
substitute in mind. For months the talk was that Spanish International
& Valencia CF player David Villa was the chosen man, however it
seems that has changed & now it is DIEGO FORLAN of ATLETICO DE
MADRID. The Uruguayan forward has 25 goals already this season & is
only 2 goals away from the leading scorer in the Spanish League FC
Barcleona player Samuel Eto´o who has 27 goals at this moment.

Stay tuned folks!

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FC BARCELONA PUTS A 20M€ PRICE ON ETO´O?

According to local sports daily “AS” & English paper “The Times”,
FC BARCELONA President Laporta has met with Gary Cook of the
English Club MANCHESTER CITY in London to discuss the future of
SAMUEL ETO ´O.

The 28 year old Barcelona forward ends his contract with the Spanish
Club next season & negotiations of renewal are halted at Barça as
Eto´o asks for 4 more years & a hike in his economic pretensions.

Everyone knows that Eto´o can negotiate freely with any Club as
from January 2010 if he doesn’t come to an agreement with Barça &
leave for free. Various Clubs are “sounding” out the situation along
with FC Barcelona who wishes to know the actual market price.

According to the news from England, FC Barcelona would accept a
20M€ deal & has expressed that to Manchester City. This also sets

the price for the other interested Clubs like Tottenham & Chelsea
who are also keen to get Eto ´o over to their Clubs.

For SFS the price of 20M€ sounds too low & it isn’t realistic considering
the price of other players of his same level. If asked my opinion, it’s

another story full of speculation & “testing” the waters. FC Barcelona
may not wish to sell the player at all & are just examining all possible
options before deciding what to do. Plus there is another important
element not mentioned, what does Samuel Eto´o think of all this.

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