Re: ssn eto set to snub city!!!!!!?????
This i believe is close to whats happening
Eto'o deal has hit a snag.
He's verbally agreed terms and Barca have accepeted the fee, the only problem is, Barca would have to pay him a £10m loyalty bonus for being sold without actually asking for a transfer. So at the minute this looks like being the deal-breaker.
This is why a few days ago Laporta went on Spanish radio talking about the stratospheric offer because he wants people to think Eto'o is wanting to leave because the money on offer is too good to turn down. This way Barca can avoid paying the loyalty bonus on the basis that Eto'o wants to leave. However Eto'o's agent has dug his heels in and basically told Barca that Eto'o is willing to sit out the last 12 months of his contract. His agent has arranged a press conference tomorrow where he will most likely explain Eto'o's intentions to stay unless Barca or maybe even City can chip in with the loyalty bonus.
Problem for Barca is they have a limited transfer budget and because Barca want to sell him, Eto'o is likely to be unsettled so they will have an unhappy player on their hands for 12 months and in any case he will leave on a free. They require the full transfer fee to pursue David Villa so they obviously don't want to have to give half of it to Eto'o to cover a disputable loyalty bonus.
So the situation at the minute is a chess game between Barca and Eto'o with City watching every move. It may even come to the point where we just offer Eto'o a signing on bonus equivalent to his loyalty bonus - that way he doesn't lose out and everyone is happy, or, we could decide he is taking the piss a bit and completely walk away knowing we've added two quality forward players to a team that was already one of the highest scoring teams in the league.
Interesting few days ahead but can everyone stop twitching please.
