Samuel Eto'o has told Barcelona he will quit the club this summer.
But the Cameroon striker will wait to see if Manchester United or AC Milan make an approach before accepting Manchester City's offer to make him the best-paid player in the world.
The 28-year-old has rejected Barcelona's offer of a two-year contract extension and has decided to leave now rather than at the end of his current deal next summer.
His agent Josep Maria Mesalles yesterday held talks at the Nou Camp with the European champions' technical secretary Txiki Begeristain.
After ruling out the option of the contract extension - half-heartedly offered by Barca director of football Raul Sanllehi without a pay rise - Mesalles discussed the possibility of Eto'o sitting out the final year of his contract.
But the Catalans are desperate to cash in now rather than lose him for nothing and both sides are so divided that Eto'o has decided to leave now, according to Barcelona-based newspaper Sport.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta this week admitted he had tried to call Eto'o several times during the summer vacations but that there had been no reply.
Reports this morning suggested City had given Eto'o a 24-hour deadline to decide on their offer of paying him £180,000 a week after tax. However, such a stance is inconsistent with manager Mark Hughes insisting they must be patient in their approach.
They are the only club to make a formal approach, and Barca are happy to accept a bid understood to be about £25million.
Eto'o, who is on holiday in New York, is also interested to hear if United are prepared to formalise reported interest in him. It is suggested he would be happy even to take a pay cut to join the Barclays Premier League champions, but there has been no bid and United are reportedly looking at other targets.
Reports in Spain today link them strongly to 21-year-old Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero.
AC Milan are interested but say they cannot come close to City's stratospheric offer. But their ability to offer Champions League football next season could count more than the financial offer on the table.
Mesalles will be keen to talk to Milan general manager Adriano Galliani, who is due in Barcelona this week when his club compete in an indoor football tournament with Barcelona and Real Madrid.
So with City the only club formally declaring an interest they are the strong favourites for his signature, though his reluctance to immediately jump on board the Middle Eastlands revolution must be a worry.
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