Chelsea have identified Samuel Eto'o as a priority transfer target for the summer. It is understood that Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich covets the striker as a player capable of producing the pulse-quickening soccer he craves for Stamford Bridge.
To that end, a scout was sent to the African Nations Cup with instructions to observe the Cameroon player's progress at the tournament. Eto'o, a double African footballer of the year, returned to Barcelona as the competition's leading scorer with five goals in four matches.
A source from the coterie of agents who deal with the player's contractual and commercial interests has revealed that a £30 million offer had been prepared by Chelsea during last month's transfer window, though Barcelona's director of football Txiki Beguiristain insisted it was never formally conveyed.
Nevertheless, it is strongly rumoured in Catalonia that one of the four most highly regarded attacking players at Camp Nou - Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Eto'o and Deco - will be sold this summer. Barcelona have made Thierry Henry their main target for the next transfer window. The Arsenal striker has yet to commit to the £30 million-plus, five-year contract believed to have been offered by the Highbury board.
Should he accede to Barca's overtures, Henry's switch this summer - one for which Arsenal could be expected to demand around £15 million - could comfortably be funded by Eto'o's departure.
The news of Chelsea's interest in the 24-year-old Eto'o emerges a week before he faces the Premiership champions in next Wednesday's Champions League fixture at Stamford Bridge.
The last match in which the two clubs met at the venue, which produced a 4-2 Champions League quarter-final win for Chelsea last season, ended in enmity, with Eto'o alleging he had been racially abused by a Chelsea steward and accusations that he spat at a member of Chelsea's ground staff.
The question of whether Eto'o can nevertheless be persuaded to ply his trade at Chelsea could be made more palatable for the player by the personal terms on offer. His Camp Nou salary of £60,000 per week is little more than half of the £158,000 per week team-mate Ronaldinho earns.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the Chelsea target John Obi Mikel yesterday appealed against the verdict of the Oslo city court that it has no jurisdiction in his contract wrangle involving Lyn Oslo and Manchester United.
Mikel, who won the best emerging player award at the African Nations Cup with Nigeria, lodged his appeal against the ruling with a higher legal authority in Norway.
With the midfielder not playing club football while he disputes the legality of two contracts Lyn and United hold with him - if it had been upheld, the latter would have seen him move to Old Trafford last month - it is hoped that the appeal will be heard within weeks.
United have left the way open for Chelsea to pursue their interest in the American teenager Freddy Adu by making it clear they have no interest in him.
The club are reluctant to take on Chelsea in terms of financial muscle, but, most importantly, Alex Ferguson has reservations about whether Adu will live up to the hype he has attracted.
Meanwhile, Everton will attempt to sign Arsenal's Mart Poom on loan after being granted special permission by the Premier League to sign a goalkeeper ahead of their match against Newcastle United in 12 days' time.
The prospect of Paul Le Guen replacing Alex McLeish as the manager of Rangers in the summer moved a step closer yesterday, with the Frenchman admitting that he is in discussions over the Ibrox post.
And, finally, John Gregory is poised to make a surprise return to soccer as manager of Hungary.
