Madrid, June 30: The agent of Samuel Eto’o told the media Tuesday that the star striker wants to stay at European champions Barcelona.
Josep Maria Mesalles said “Eto’o wants to stay at Barca, but he is not going to put any obstacle in the way of the club if they want to get rid of him.”
He refused to confirm that Barca had received an offer of 30 million euros (42.15 million dollars) for Eto’o from Manchester City.
Mesalles added that (Barca coach Josep) “Guardiola has not told us that he doesn’t want the player.”
Messales then accused Barca of “giving a mixed message, in order to leave a bad image of Eto’o and get rid of him.”
Guardiola made it clear, when he took over at Barca a year ago, that he did not want the explosive Eto’o in his squad. However, no acceptable offers were received for the Cameroon hitman so he stayed at the Camp Nou, scoring 35 goals in all competitions as Barca pulled off a historic “treble” of Spanish league, cup and Champions League.
The contract of Eto’o, 28, finishes in June 2010. Barca have offered him a two-year extension, at the same salary, but he and Miralles have so far refused to sign it.
–Agencies