Guardiola Yet To Tell Eto'o If He Stays

Pep Guardiola has yet to tell Samuel Eto'o whether or not he will be staying at Barcelona, but has to make a public announcement over the player before Wednesday.

Aug 11, 2008 9:04:13 AM

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Samuel Eto'o - Barcelona (Marca)

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The Blaugrana coach is reported to have decided if the Cameroonian striker is going to be part of his squad next term although reports that he has explained his position are not true, according to Marca.

Eto'o has forced his way back into the recognition at Camp Nou after netting five goals in pre-season and also because of his unrealistic personal demands.

Several clubs have made enquiries and immediately ended any interest when being told that to sign the former Real Madrid striker would cost them between €8 and €10m-per-season.

Barça have also not encouraged Eto'o to leave, despite several comments to the contrary, as they failed to lower their asking pric of €30m when Inter and Milan made enquiries.

Now Guardiola has until the day of the first leg of the Champions League preliminary against Wisla Krakow to make a definite choice over whether to keep him or include him.

Following Emmanuel Adebayor's commitment to Arsenal, the Catalan press have done their best to link the club to other strikers, with Dimitar Berbatov being the latest, but with not much conviction.

The fact that Eto'o's form and change of attitude has meant that the new coach had to change his mind after earlier stating that the player would not be in his plans has meant any new signings are unlikely.

If the 27-year-old does remain then it will be a matter of convenience for both he and Guardiola because they know that the trainer did not want him as his first choice.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com

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