Fans online believe Barcelona made a mistake to let Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o join Inter Milan while Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed the opposite direction 13 years ago.
Eto’o joined Inter in July 2009 after Barcelona gave the striker and €46 million to the Italian giants in exchange for Ibrahimovic, despite having been the club’s leading scorer in the five years he played for the Catalans.
The now Fecafoot president went on to have a successful debut campaign with the Nerazzurri as Jose Mourinho’a men won the Uefa Champions League, Eto’o's second in a row and third overall, Serie A and Coppa Italia while Ibrahimovic endured a torrid time in Spain and returned to Italy the following season.
“13 years since the start of a memorable chapter. What was your favourite @Inter moment?” posed Eto’o on social media as he marked 13 years since the transfer.
“The best moment was of course, when Barcelona were willing to let go of one of their great players for Zlatan and Eto'o became a Champions League champion back-to-back and made Inter the best club in Europe and even the world at that time,” responded @FRANKLYN_KHA.
“Best moment when you wore the Inter shirt for the first time. We knew you'll be amazing, the best transfer business in history. We took you + 50M. What a massive mistake Barca did,” commented @ahmednajjarrr.
“The moment Pep [Guardiola] thought you are finished, then you proved it to him in a Mourinho way (breaking the bounds with a successful record) that will forever remain in the heart of every Internazionale Milano fans,” responded @Ibracavelli2310.
“Guardiola offloaded you and believed in Zlatan and you beat Pep and his Barcelona in the semi-final. That was my favourite Inter moment,” @NkosiNkoreh also concurred.
Inter knocked Guardiola’s team from the Champions League at the semi-final stage following a 3-1 win at home and 1-0 loss at Camp Nou where the Italian side played with 10 men.
“Win against Barca was at home for Inter,” was @Hlelolomdaliwam’s favourite moment.
Some supporters feel the Cameroon legend stood out for his desire to sacrifice individual glory for the team.
“When you played left-back to help the team win the Champions League,” remembers @teamfrozzie.
“What makes you so different from anywhere else you played for is the hard work and resilience at Inter during that year [2010],” said @kennyfunfun.
“My favourite African player. I will never forget the [2010] Champions League final match with Inter when you were playing as defender. It was amazing,” replied @brunotheo6.
“Coppa Italia win against Palermo you were super outstanding, followed by Club World Cup games and of course, away win against Barca in the semis, you were a right-back on the Champions League night when [the] treble was won,” said @oracle_kvn25.
Others remember when Inter were on the brink of Champions League elimination only to go on and win it.
“At minute 85, we were out of any European tournament, 5 minutes later we were first in the group and from there we continued until the victory,” @piccolobush remembers.
The four-time African Player of the Year made 102 appearances for Inter while scoring 53 goals in a three-year spell that yielded six trophies.
