Eto'o deal off

Big news from MCFC this evening: the pursuit of Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o has been called off. In a statement on the website Garry Cook has said:

“Samuel Eto'o is undoubtedly a fine footballer but the circumstances surrounding him were such that the deal could not be completed.

“We now feel the time is right to pursue other avenues and we have a clear and strategic transfer plan, which we continue to follow.”

Daniel Taylor claims in Saturday's Guardian that Eto'o failed to accept within a timeframe imposed by the club, which sounds very likely. The more Eto'o prevaricated, the more clear it became that his heart was never really in it - and why, if we're honest, would it be? - and so it makes sense for the club to cut the cord rather than to take on what would be a wholly mercenary player:

Mark Hughes, City's manager, had spoken of the need for "patience" over Eto'o but the player's prevarication – he led City to believe he was keen before appearing to change his mind and then declining to give a clear answer – was beginning to affect City's rebuilding plans. Eto'o wanted perhaps as much as 50% of the transfer fee as a signing-on fee, on the basis that he could leave Barcelona on a free next year.

It's for that reason that I am intensely relaxed about this. Yes, Eto'o is a centre forward of truly world class, the sort that we have never seen at City before. (Was Francis Lee, at his peak, nearly as good as Eusebio or Pelé?) But the sort of big money deal required to see him in blue - with up to £200,000 per week and that absurd signing-on fee - has always left me a bit cold. I was not distraught when we failed to sign Kaká, and I am not desperately enthused with the prospect of our signing John Terry.

I know that players like Eto'o, Kaká and Terry are steps beyond what we now have, and I know that we can't get to where we really want to be without them. But there's something about a mid-table club (tenth last year, with fifty points, let's not forget) signing the world's very best (a bracket into which Robinho does not fit) which does not sit that well with me. I don't want to see us assemble a team based solely on cash-lust (of course it plays a role in all of our signings to an extent, but in some more than others), and, in a quite genuine sense, I don't want to be seen to be taking the piss.

I am very excited about a potential Carlos Tévez - Roque Santa Cruz pairing next season. And the arrival of a centre forward better than either of them, but at the club for different reasons, is not something I could wholly and honestly celebrate. So the fact that we'll line up with that all South American pairing next year, with Bellamy and Bozhinov in reserve, is for me more than satisfactory. I know that we are now, in American, 0 for 2 in our attempts to attract a true galactico to Eastlands. But I don't mind. Tévez and RSC should give us a decent shot at sixth, and neither of them will ever be embarrassed to pull on the shirt.

Departures, ctd.

Despite what I just wrote about the departures of Hamann, Ball, Mills and Vassell, it is not his exit that is the most newsworthy this week - but that of Danny Sturridge to Chelsea.

This is more upsetting than it is surprising. The chaos in which MCFC was convulsed for most of 2008 up until the ADUG takeover meant that Sturridge was not offered the new contract he otherwise would have been, and when serious negotiations did start under Mark Hughes it was Sturridge and his representatives who were in a position of strength. And this position was used to present a series of ludicrous wage demands, which, coupled perhaps with a frustration to become a regular in the first team, pushed Sturridge towards his eventual separation from City.

It's obviously a huge disappointment. Sturridge is arguably the most talented youngster to come out of the Academy since Shaun Wright-Phillips (I think that Michael Johnson is the most gifted of them, ahead of even Stephen Ireland, not that it matters.) We've only seen glimpses of Sturridge's talent, but it's certainly there, and so the realisation that we will never see his flowering in a City shirt is difficult to take.

The strange thing about Sturridge's departure is just how anomalous it is. The last ten months have been the most positive and optimistic time to be a City fan in my lifetime. We've played rubbish for most of it (though that's nothing new), but the mood of the club is one of an inexorable journey to success. This bad news, then, runs counter to the good news that has been coming out of City since last September; an unlikely dark cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky.

But that is why we should be able to move on quickly from this. Imagine just how traumatic this would have been under Wardle's ownership, or even under Thaksin's. And then remember that we're now owned by neither, but by the richest men to ever invest in football. And think of how much better Santa Cruz and Tévez are going to be than any frontline that includes Danny Sturridge.

Eto'o's agent says no?

Samuel Eto'o's agent has said today in a radio interview that he is unlikely to join City:

Eto'o's agent, Josep Maria Mesalles, told ONA FM, "If there is not a 180-degree turnaround then he will stay with Barcelona."

Presuming that Messales' press conference scheduled for Tuesday will still go ahead, we should get a better sense of where exactly Eto'o's intentions lie.

Eto'o press conference tomorrow

Another story from El Mundo Deportivo - that Samuel Eto'o's agent, Josep Maria Mesalles, will hold a press conference tomorrow in Spain - in the luxurious AC Diplomatic hotel in Barcelona - to clarify Eto'o's future intentions. (In English, in Spanish.)

What exactly Eto'o's intentions are: whether he will come to City, sign a new contract at Barcelona, or run down the last year of his existing deal - well, no-one really knows. But maybe we'll get a better handle on this on Tuesday.

Progress on three fronts

With news that Santa Cruz is getting ever closer to City, and that Tévez is seriously considering our offer, we read in this morning's Telegraph that talks for Samuel Eto'o are progressing:

Garry Cook, City's executive chairman, and football administrator Brian Marwood held talks with their Barcelona counterparts earlier this week, but despite making progress towards an agreement, Barcelona have yet to accept City's offer, leaving the English club unable to talk terms directly with Eto'o.

Although reports of wage demands by Eto'o of close to £200,000-a-week after tax have been dismissed as "wildly exaggerated" by City sources, the club accept they are likely to have to make Eto'o the Premier League's top earner in order to persuade him to turn his back on Champions League football.

Could we actually get all three? It would give us the best choice of forwards for years - presuming Craig Bellamy is here as well - even better than in 1994/95 when we had Niall Quinn, Paul Walsh and Uwe Rösler to choose from. Seriously, this would be incredible.

Mail: Eto'o deal 'edging closer'

So claim Simon Jones and John Edwards in Thursday's Daily Mail:

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.

Those numbers are pretty ludicrous, but if I was going to be actually put off by football clubs spending obscene prices on players, I would have got off the bus some time ago. The point is that we, almost alone among football clubs, can afford to meet the demands of players like Eto'o and so we can reap real advantages from it. I'd still be surprised if we manage to pull this one off, simply because I think Eto'o has too much self-regard to leave the European champions for a mid-table English side. But if he does come to City, we'll worry more than just Everton and Aston Villa. One to start taking a bit more seriously, perhaps? I'll believe it when I see it.

Sunday's rumours

The perfect way to spend a Saturday evening; chewing over the next day's News of the World's many City-related rumours:

• First up: Liverpool are set to bid £5m for Micah Richards, providing that we get Glen Johnson. Arsenal are also interested in Richards, apparently. I'm still not convinced that Johnson's a serious target, but even if he isn't Richards ought not to be first choice next season.

• Next - Danny Sturridge may go to West Ham rather than Chelsea. This would suggest that his demands for first team football are as important as his wages. The only problem is that we're demanding a £10m 'development fee', which of course West Ham can't afford.

• Another move for Roque Santa Cruz is suggested - with a cut-price of £15million in recognition of his recent knee problems. RSC 'hopes to wrap up' the move 'this week.'

• A more glamarous striker linked with a move to City is Samuel Eto'o, who would apparently demand €1million/month from us - or £200,000/week.

• And finally - Chelsea are said to be interested in hijacking our move for Carlos Tévez, and are willing to pay the £30m fee and the £120k/week wages.
  

Sky and MEN : City deny Eto'o interest

Sky Sports 'understand' that City have 'denied making a bid.'

The M.E.N. have a longer piece, saying that the meeting between Cook and Laporta was quite routine, and not necessarily about a bid to sign Eto'o:

City officials are slightly irritated that Eto’o’s name has figured so prominently in speculation about the chat between Laporta and Blues chief executive Garry Cook.

They argue that while relations between clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea and major European rivals are well established, City are very much still in a getting-to-know-you process.

UPDATE There seems to have been some serious media briefing from the club, either in response to today's Times article or as a continuation of the same process. It's now on the BBC website, saying that Eto'o formed part of the discussion but was not the point of the meeting as such.

City ask after Eto'o

A report in Tuesday's Times (also in the Mail) says that there were talks in London yesterday over the sale of Samuel Eto'o to City.

On the eve of his team’s Champions League semi-final, first leg with Chelsea, Joan Laporta, the Barcelona president, met Garry Cook, the Manchester City executive chairman, in London to discuss a deal for the striker. The Spanish club have also offered Eto’o, who could command a fee of up to £15 million, to Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

City remain keen on signing another superstar to play alongside Robinho after their unsuccessful attempt to buy Kaká for a world-record £103 million from AC Milan in January. Barcelona’s position has been weakened by Eto’o, 28, stalling on the offer of a new four-year contract, which means that he could leave on a free transfer when his present deal expires in 14 months.

Of all our alleged summer targets, this is the most exciting. Not simply because he is the best player with whom we are seriously linked, but because it may just be a credible story. Despite his magnificent season with Barcelona, his long term future in Catalonia is not secure.

Last summer Pep Guardiola, seeking to root out the complacency and discontent that soured the end of the Frank Rijkaard era, tried to sell Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto'o. The club found buyers for the first two - AC Milan took Ronaldinho for £16.7million (although Thaksin almost paid £25.5m for him), while Deco teamed up with Scolari at Chelsea, at a cost of £8million. But no one could be found to pay Eto'o's six figure weekly salary, and he stayed put.

Rather than continue to punish Eto'o, Guardiola has played him at the centre of his attacking trident, with great success. So far this year he's scored 27 in 31 games in La Liga, 30 in 41 in all competitions. It's an exceptional record. But his personal relationship with Guardiola is still said to be poor, and he has stalled on signing a new contract. His current deal runs out next summer. Barca are also chasing David Villa, and given el Guaje's alleged unwillingness to move abroad the Camp Nou remains his most likely destination. Should Villa go to Barcelona, Eto'o would be left looking for a new club. We could certainly match Barcelona's asking price and the player's wage demands. The only question is whether he would take such a step down, should he not be able to find another top bracket club to take him.

Much as I would love this to happen, I think that if he goes it won't be to us. He has already expressed a desire to play for Olympique de Marseille, who currently lie top of Ligue 1. Should they hold on to their lead, they will have the prestige, the Champions League football and the resources to offer him a more attractive destination.