Uzbekistan League side Kuruvchi claim to have
reached a deal to sign Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o - though
Barca have laughed off the news.
Eto'o, who has been told he is not part of coach Pep
Guardiola's plans, is expected to leave the Nou Camp this summer
and has been linked with moves to Serie A and the Premier
League.
On Monday morning, though, the Uzbekistan League leaders
announced in an official statement on
their website that they had landed the 27-year-old forward on a
six-month deal.
The news was confirmed by Kuruvchi sporting director Bahtier
Babayev, who told TEAMtalk that Eto'o will sign with the club later
this week on a contract to be determined by performances.
"Eto'o will arrive in Tashkent on Thursday and he will sign a
contract with our club, at least up until the end of 2008," Babayev
said.
"The term of the contract will depend on our performance in the
AFC Champions League. We will play Saipa in the quarter-finals and
Eto'o is our main purchase before the knockout stage of the
tournament.
"If we can agree with the player, he will continue to play for
our club in the future."
Babayev also insisted that the seemingly unlikely transfer had
been made possible due to good relations between the Primera Liga
side and the Tashkent club.
"The defining moment of the transfer was not money, but the
friendly mutual relations between the management of our club and
Barcelona," he said.
"The personal friendship between presidents of the clubs has
noticeably lowered the transfer fee."
The official club statement which confirmed the transfer read:
"(Kuruvchi have) signed a contract with Cameroonian forward Samuel
Eto'o from Barcelona.
"The striker will arrive in Tashkent on July 17 and will play in
the second half of the championship of Uzbekistan."
However, despite the Uzbekistan club's insistence that the
transfer will go ahead, Barcelona denied any knowledge of the
move.
An official spokesperson for the Nou Camp side said: "Nobody at
the club knows anything about this. I don't think it's very
likely."
