Source: Daily_Mail
Desperate Barcelona refuse to give up on shipping Samuel Eto'o to Man City
Barcelona are desperately trying to revive a deal to sell Samuel Eto'o to Manchester City.
The Cameroon striker is ready to break his silence on the summer transfer saga by holding a press conference tomorrow.
But his employers want to head off any embarrassment by doing a deal with City, despite the Premier League club releasing a statement on Friday that they had ended their interest in the 28-year-old.
Eto'o will confirm on Tuesday that he has rejected a two-year contract extension, offered without a pay rise by Barcelona.
He is expected to say that he is happy to see out the final year of his existing contract, without closing the door on a transfer.
Samuel Eto'o
Barca would rather sell now than lose him for nothing next summer and with both he and the club scarred by a summer of damaging headlines, his continuation at the European champions has the potential to be hugely unsettling.
There is hope that Manchester United or AC Milan will come forward with a bid, but neither would be able to come close to City's stratospheric offer of making him the world's highest-paid player on £180,000 a week after tax, on top of a transfer fee of around £25million.
There have been no new bids, leaving Barca to try to resuscitate the interest from Eastlands.
Nou Camp insiders see the next 24 hours as crucial, with City due to travel to South Africa for a pre-season tour this week.
Mark Hughes will want to have the crux of his squad in place, while the Catalans similarly want to know if they can finance a deal for Valencia striker David Villa before they fly to London next Monday to prepare for the Wembley Cup pre-season competition.
Widespread reports in Spain say City are already looking elsewhere and hope to sign Luis Fabiano from Sevilla for about £22million.
AC Milan are interested in the 28-year-old Brazil striker, who has been on Chelsea's radar for some time, but their bid had been closer to £16m.
Eto'o appeared to play his cards last week when his agent informed the club he would reject his contract was prepared to leave this summer.
There had been hope of sparking a bidding war for his services, but his suitors appear to share Barca's view that Eto'o values himself too highly.
