Eto’o Wants More Pay From Barcelona

As Samuel Eto’o’s reaches the tail-end of his current contract with Barcelona, rumours about his future have began circulating frantically.

A whole host of clubs big and small, from Inter to Chelsea to PSG and Marseille, have all expressed their interest to snap up the Cameroonian, while Barca themselves are weighing up their options whether to extend his stay or head for a fresh direction in the form of David Villa or Karim Benzema.

As for Eto’o himself, he is desperate to remain at the Camp Nou, but he also wants his Catalan employers to make him one of the best paid players in the world. His current term runs out on June 30, 2010 and he wants the club to consider him an indispensable player, alongside Lionel Messi, and grant him a huge pay rise.

Although the Blaugrana have never made exact figures of player wages available to the public, a study from a Portuguese website, www.futebolfinance.com believes that Eto’o is asking for around €7.5 million net per season, compared to Messi, who is the third best paid footballer in the world behind only Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kaka with an estimated annual salary of €8.4 million.

Meanwhile, AS believes that the Barca boardroom are in fact trying to speed up negotiations to tie down Eto’o. The club want his future sorted before the start of next season, so as not to distract the striker’s focus on the football pitch and also to prevent any potential suitors from enticing him with bigger offers.

It is also understood that president, Joan Laporta is eager to use the possible success of securing Eto’o’s long-term future as a means of winning votes ahead of the club’s presidential elections in the spring of 2010.