That's rich, Eto'o: Manchester City target asking for £16m-a-year in pay alone

18 June 2009 01:26
Manchester City were last night edging closer to the player they believe will be the stellar domestic signing of the summer - a spectacular deal for Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o that could cost £70million. Quite how the striker will react to the prospect of making his debut away to Blackburn at a compact Ewood Park remains to be seen, but the size of City's staggering purse will surely help overcome any doubts he may have. City will pay a transfer fee of just under £30m, but will need to match Eto'o's wage demands of £192,000 a week AFTER TAX over the four-year-deal, making him the most expensive arrival in British football. Having Eto'o on the pay roll will cost in excess of £320,000-aweek (£16.6m a year), more than twice as much as leading Barclays Premier League stars such as Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. Barcelona sources say the deal, which Sportsmail exclusively revealed this month, is almost complete. It represents outstanding business for the Spanish champions as the 28-year-old has only one year left on his contract, and he would have been able to leave on a free transfer next summer. Last night City denied they must lose Robinho to gain Eto'o. Executive chairman Garry Cooke said: 'Robinho has always been a highly valued member of our team and that continues to be the case. Reports suggesting he will leave, either on loan or on a permanent deal, are absolutely untrue.' City want to pair Eto'o with Robinho to steal Manchester United's thunder after they lost Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in a world-record move. City have signed Gareth Barry from Aston Villa, but want to flex their muscles as manager Mark Hughes sets them a target of gatecrashing the Champions League and Eto'o, who scored 36 goals last season, would certainly be a Hollywood-style capture.

Source: Daily_Mail