Source: Daily_Mail
Samuel Eto'o agrees £175,000 a week Inter deal to pave way for Ibrahimovic's Barca switch
Samuel Eto'o is set to put pen to paper on a five-year deal with Inter Milan after agreeing terms with the Serie A champions.
Inter have been in negotiations with Eto'o and his agent for the past few days after Barcelona had an offer of £39million plus the Cameroon striker for Zlatan Ibrahimovic accepted. Alexander Hleb will also join Inter on loan.
Estimates of the overall value of the transfer put it just below the world record £80million paid by Real Madrid for Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo and it is estimated that one-time Manchester City target Eto'o will pick up about £175,000 after tax.
After a meeting with the Serie A champions, Josep Maria Mesalles revealed his client will finalise his move to the San Siro shortly.
"There's complete agreement with Inter," he told Radio Radio. "The negotiations are complete but it's not possible to say that the footballer now belongs to Inter because his release from Barcelona has not been resolved yet.
"But that won't be a problem. The deal is for five years, the player is happy."
Eto'o has spent his entire professional career in Spanish football since joining Real Madrid in 1997.
The 28-year-old has had a successful five seasons at Barca but the cracks started to appear last summer when he was transfer-listed by new coach Pep Guardiola.
The Barca boss made it clear his feelings were still the same despite Eto'o lashing in 30 goals in 36 Primera Division games as the Catalan giants stormed to the treble.
And Mesalles is confident Eto'o will continue firing in the goals in Italy.
"Eto'o has been an important player in Spanish football," he added. "A player who wants to remain at big clubs.
"Did Guardiola undervalue the Cameroon striker? It's true that with the change of coach at Barcelona it was difficult for the player to dowell. The player then showed a good performance.
"The contract will be for five years, the player wants to do well at Milan at Inter showed a lot of interest for Eto'o. The player is happy.
"I don't think Serie A is very different from La Liga. Eto'o has shown since the first moment of his debut in Spain that he can do well. There won't be any problems in Italy either.
"Maybe there will be a few days or months of adapting, also to life in Milan, but everything will change at the first game."
The agreement will probably give the green light for Ibrahimovic's move in the opposite direction although his agent insisted earlier that the Sweden striker will not finalise his move to the Nou Camp on Thursday.
And Mesalles claims that even if Ibrahimovic remains at Inter it will have no impact on Eto'o.
"The performance of one is different to that of the other," he said. "They are important players, each has to give his most for his club.
"Samuel is Samuel, he had a brilliant performance both in the league and the Champions League and now he wants to do well at Inter.
"His deal was completely independent to that of Ibrahimovic."
