Soccer

Eto'o to stay with Barcelona

Samuel Eto'o will remain a Barcelona player for the coming season, coach Pep Guardiola has confirmed

Tue Aug 12 2008 - 01:00

Samuel Eto'o will remain a Barcelona player for the coming season, coach Pep Guardiola has confirmed. Eto'o was one of three high-profile Barca players who were told earlier this summer they would be allowed to leave the Nou Camp, the others being Ronaldinho and Deco, with the Cameroon international linked with a move to Chelsea.

But while Ronaldinho has joined AC Milan and Deco moved to Stamford Bridge, Eto'o has remained at Barca and, after impressing at pre-season, Guardiola has decided the Cameroon international has a future at the Catalan giants.

The 27-year-old Eto'o, who has been a prolific goalscorer since joining Barca in 2004 from Real Mallorca, had been linked to a number of clubs this summer after being told he could go.

However, no deal was forthcoming with any interested party and, after netting five times in four pre-season friendlies with Barca, coach Guardiola has opted to give Eto'o a second chance.

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"I know that I said on my first day that I did not count on him, but I also said that I would treat him like any other player," said Guardiola.

"His behaviour and attitude in Scotland and the United States have made me decide that he will remain with us. And, as well as that, he is a player with immense talent."

With Eto'o looking set to leave the club, Barca were linked with a host of other strikers this summer, including Emmanuel Adebayor, David Villa, David Trezeguet, Karim Benzema and Dimitar Berbatov.

However, Guardiola denied any suggestion that the decision to keep Eto'o had anything to do with the club's lack of success in bringing in a replacement.

"The negotiations to sign a 'number nine' were stopped some weeks ago following a decision by me and Txiki (Begiristain, sporting director)," the new Barca coach added.

"Before bringing players in you must let players go and as everything was going well I decided that it was not necessary to sign anybody and everything would remain the same."

Guardiola also denied that keeping Eto'o was because he had doubts about his other senior striker Thierry Henry.

Frenchman Henry, who has recently been linked with a move back to England with Manchester United, struggled to hit top form during his first campaign with Barca and has netted just once in pre-season.