[Torque]

Tottenham have started negotiations with Barcelona for striker Samuel Eto'o.

Spurs manager Juande Ramos has made Eto'o his No.1 target and it is understood the club have already met Barca officials to talk about his transfer to White Hart Lane.

The London Evening Standard reports that a Tottenham official went to Spain after the Catalan side's defeat by Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final last week to open discussions and the Spanish giants will listen to offers for the Cameroon international.

Barcelona will not sell for anything less than £27million but Tottenham are ready to cash in on Dimitar Berbatov and are thinking of using him as bait to secure a swap deal.

Barcelona are planning a mass clear-out following their failure to win a trophy for a second successive season and Eto'o angered the club by getting booked against Valencia at the weekend, which sees him suspended for tonight's game against Real Madrid.

Eto'o is believed to be happy about the prospect of a move to White Hart Lane and admitted earlier in the season that if was to quit Spain he would only move to the Premier League.

Ramos has been promised funds to build a squad capable of challenging for a top-four place and has already signed Croatia international Luka Modric for £15.8m, but Eto'o will be a real statement of intent.

More talks are planned next week with Barcelona but AC Milan have also registered their interest in the Bulgaria striker.

The Italian giants have turned to Berbatov after giving up any hope of buying Chelsea's Didier Drogba.

Milan have helped their cause by overtaking Fiorentina in Serie A to move into the top four and the final Champions League place, with just two games to go.

It looks set to be a summer of fervent activity at White Hart Lane as boss Juande Ramos bids to build on this season's Carling Cup victory.

Spurs slumped in the Premier League after their win at Wembley over Chelsea and can now only finish as high as 10th — a position Ramos will not accept next year.

The Spanish manager is also preparing to raid his former club Sevilla for their brilliant left winger Diego Capel. In addition, Spurs may also renew their interest in Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra, having missed out on him during the January transfer window.

Berbatov is desperate to play in Europe's premier club competition and was noticeably absent from the official launch of Tottenham's new kit last night and didn't play at Reading at the weekend, although the club insisted that was due to a groin strain.

Ramos will move for 20-year-old Capel as soon as the season ends and could capitalise on the buy-out clause in his contract. That clause is directly linked to Capel's wages and how many times his contract has been re-negotiated. The buy-out price began at £9.5m but once he'd played 40 first-team games, a target he reached against Murcia last month, the price rose by £2m.

Spurs can pay the fee directly to the Spanish league and then negotiate with Capel and his agents without ever involving Sevilla.

source

It looks like Berbatov is a real asshole. Thank God we did not sign him.

I just don't understand: Milan wanted Sheva for free, claiming that they can't pay that amount of money, and now they are ready to pay 30+ mil for Berbatov. WTF?

So if Spurs are keen to snatch one of the first four places, that would take them to CL, at the end of next season somebody will have to go down. Loserpool perhaps?

[daveybeckham]

i dont think spurs have the pulling power or the wage structure to get him

[Dirtycheat]

Originally Posted by daveybeckham

i dont think spurs have the pulling power or the wage structure to get him

you never know, they did get edgar davids



tbh, im not sure if spurs have the midfield to be able to make the most of eto'o if they do sign him.

why he would want to go to spurs is another issue altogether.

The fella said he wants to leave if barca dont win anything because he wants trophies. Why on earth would he then go to spurs? To win the carling Cup? pfffft.

[funkdoctorspock]

wtf?

What dc said. If Eto'o wants to win trophies and do it in England. There really is one place.

Amazingly for him, the one place should be looking for a striker this summer.

Dear Lord,

I dont ask for much.

But if you could allow United to pull off the Eto'o sweepstakes, I would be so happy. Considering he's my favourite striker and imo the best striker the world has to offer.

More importantly to see the likes of Eto'o, Rooney, Ronaldo, Anderson, Scholes in the same lineup would more than likely be the destruction of opposing teams all over Europe.

Sincerely,

Funkdoctorspock.

p.s. daveybeckham, exactly what evidence do you have that Spurs couldn't pull this off? They did get Berbatov, Hutton, Woodgate against some major teams vying for there services and they are being paid well.

[GocartMozart]

Davey is in fact right, they don't have the pull for this. You have to have some serious respectability behind you, which as the laughing stock to the Big Four, they really don't have. At his age he'll only go to a bonafide contender. As for trophies, they did win the Carling Cup, so you never know.

United aren't getting Eto'o either. Absolute pipe dream. Firstly the executives at Barca are already in too much heat as it is. It would only be compounded if they sold one of their two best players.

Sincerely,

Gocart "funky's a tool for using a letter format in a forum" Mozart

p.s. This is rubbish.

p.p.s. IHTH

[funkdoctorspock]

wow,

this looks like a massive pipe dream too:

Tottenham Hotspur have made contact with Barcelona about the availability and asking price of Samuel Eto'o for next season and have been told that he can be theirs for 35million euros, according to a report.

Marca state that Barca have been receptive to Spurs' enquiry and will now wait and see what the English team's opening gambit is regarding price.

Juande Ramos was quoted as saying that if his club want to compete with the top four then they would have to sign the best players, like Luka Modric and Eto'o, and now appears to have followed up on that statement by making an enquiry.

Barcelona are set for a summer of sweeping changes and could be prepared to offload any number of stars in order to finance a rebuilding programme that will mean at least ten players going.

Eto'o has stated recently that he would leave next summer if the club endured a third season without a trophy, but the attraction of a move to the Premier League may help Tottenham's cause a year early.

With Frank Rijkaard looking likely to leave, the big names from Barca's Champions League triumph two seasons ago are also said to be on the way out with Ronaldinho and Deco, among others, to be offered to other clubs.

While Eto'o's name had not been highlighted before by the Catalan press as one to leave, a large bid from Tottenham could certainly have them working out how viable it would be to keep him.

The former Real Madrid forward is no stranger to interest from the North London outfit as he was expected to join them from Real Mallorca 12 months before moving to Camp Nou and he even dedicated a goal to the club's fans.

Spurs' interest in Eto'o could further cast a doubt over the long-term future of star forward Dimitar Berbatov - who continues to be linked with a big-money summer move.

Sky Sports | Football | Primera Division | News | Spurs make Eto'o contact

Any player has a price. That's the unfortunate business of football nowadays.

hmmm.... what's worse. Not contributing, or contributing using letter format?



P.S. Barcelona are going to be completely revamped for next. As much as 8 players are leaving and Eto'o is unfortunately rumoured to be one. If United dangle the cash, Barcelona will bite.

This should have been evident to you after they got there asses kicked 4-1 to Madrid yesterday.

They are done.

ihth

[Torque]

Here's an update on the situation:

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is understood to be planning to fly to Barcelona on Sunday as the club step up their bid to sign Samuel Eto'o.

The London Evening Standard reports that head coach Juande Ramos has made Eto'o his first-choice signing to play up front next season and Levy wants to do everything possible to get his man.

The Cameroon international has been told he is no longer required by Barcelona and put up for sale.

Inter Milan have already contacted the striker's agent but Spurs have been encouraged by the 27-year-old's desire to play in England.

Eto'o said: "The Premier League is a top league, so to play there will be fantastic and a good challenge. I want to be a 'Pichichi' [top scorer] there as well. I am a top player and I can play in any country."

Spurs, who are believed to have sent a club official to Spain after Barcelona lost to Manchester United in the Champions League semi-final, have been told they will have to pay around £27m for Eto'o.

They will also have to somehow fund his £100,000-a-week wage demands, which breaks the pay structure at the club.

The fact they will only be in the UEFA Cup and not the Champions League next season is also not in their favour but that won't stop Levy from trying to sign one of the best strikers in the world.

The club will be able to fund the deal by selling Dimitar Berbatov, who is wanted by Barcelona, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

source

I wonder how much have they been paying Berbatov. If it was somewhere around the salary Eto'o is requesting I don't think it would be a problem for them to sign him and keep him for a while at WHL (that is if they manage to build a strong team to fight with the top 4)

[mark08]

well a swap between berbs and eto'o might happen if eto'o is game for it!

will be a massive coup for spurs, but i dont see it happenin tbh!
could see eto'o at maybe AC alongside pato, which would be quite good!