Eto'o Staying With Guardiola

According to El Mundo Deportivo, recent reports linking Samuel Eto'o with a further stay at FC Barcelona are bang on the money, with the Cameroonian set to continue his blaugrana career...

Aug 10, 2008 11:45:09 PM

Samuel Eto'o - Barcelona

Teams

The Catalan newspaper claims that Pep Guardiola has now fully settled on Eto'o's presence ahead of the new season.

When the boss was appointed in June following Frank Rijkaard's departure, Eto'o was named as one of three big-name players - the others being Deco and Ronaldinho - whose time at Camp Nou was up.

But a rejuvenated Eto'o has set pre-season ablaze so far, ensuring that he is at least in with a fighting chance of securing his position.

What's more, "market conditions" have apparently seen to it that an Eto'o replacement has not been forthcoming this summer, with the likes of David Trezeguet of Juventus and Lyon's Karim Benzema not being landed by the blaugrana.

The true litmus test could come on Wednesday as Barcelona face Wisla Krakow in the Champions League. If Eto'o takes part he will be ineligible to play for another team in Europe and his value will thus sink considerably.

It is worth remembering that the Cameroonian firebrand offered the best minutes:goals ratio of all strikers in the Liga last season, and this goes a long way towards explaining the newfound desire to keep him.

Players such as Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol have stated that Barcelona would be poorer for selling the former Mallorca ace.

Steve Michaels, Goal.com