Stamford Bridge side ready to fork out massive sum to land legendary striker.
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Chelsea have set their sights on Anzhi striker Samuel Eto’o as a potential alternative to number one summer transfer window target Wayne Rooney according to the Daily Express.
The Russian Premier League side are desperate to cut costs and as such are looking to offload a number of their top performers and this has left Cameroon international linked with a number of potential suitors, now Jose Mourinho is said to be interested.
The Blues boss worked with Eto’o during their shared time together at Inter Milan and may well feel that the 32 year old forward could add some much needed strength to bolster his attack.
Mourinho has been told that he could land the former Barcelona star for just £5m but there is the small matter of meeting the player’s wage expectations, and that could well cost a small fortune as Samuel Eto’o is the most expensive football player on planet earth when it comes to earnings.
Eto’o earns an astonishing £344,000 a week AFTER tax and whilst the experienced striker may be willing to reduce such demands one imagines he won’t be willing to take a massive pay-cut and this may well in part explain why Anzhi are willing to sell the player for a fraction of his real worth, eager as they are to remove such a massive wage from their balance sheet.
Samuel Eto’o first emerged on the scene at Real Madrid but failed to make the grade at the Bernabeu and was moved on to Real Mallorca where he honed his craft. 69 goals in five seasons earned a move to Barcelona where he well and truly put himself on the map as one of the deadliest finishers in world football.
At the Nou Camp Eto’o racked up 129 goals in 201 appearances, helping the Catalan side to three La Liga titles and two Champions League triumphs.
A move to Inter Milan saw Eto’o scored 53 goals in two seasons during which time he helped the San Siro side to a historic treble under the guidance of Jose Mourinho before a move to Anzhi in August 2011 for whom the lethal finisher has continued to score regularly, racking up 36 goals in 71 appearances.