Eto’o becomes highest paid footballer

Anzhi Makhachkala confirmed on Tuesday that they have agreed terms for the transfer of four-time African player of the year Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o from Inter Milan in the highest-profile signing ever by a Russian side.

“Today Anzhi and Inter reached agreement on the transfer of Samuel Eto’o,” read a statement on Anzhi’s official site. “The transfer sum suited both sides,” it added, without giving financial details.

It said that Eto’o will undergo a medical on Wednesday and will then sign a three-year contract before starting training with the squad on Thursday.

Press reports said earlier that Anzhi will pay Inter 25 million euros ($36m) plus performance-related bonuses for the Cameroon skipper.

It is also believed that Eto’o will receive around 20.5 million euros ($29.6m) a year in wages, making him the world’s best-paid footballer.

Eto’o, 30, is the most decorated player in African history, having won the Champions League three times - twice with Barcelona and once with Inter.

Eto’o also won three league titles with Barca and one with Inter, while with Cameroon he has twice won the Africa Cup of Nations.

He began his career with Real Madrid before loan spells with Leganes, Espanyol and Real Mallorca, who he then joined permanently.

After starring in Mallorca’s King’s Cup triumph in 2003, he went on to join Barca the next year.

Eto’o was then sold to Inter in 2009 in a swap deal involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with the Italians also receiving 46 million euros ($66.4m).

Anzhi are based in Makhachkala - the capital of the Republic of Dagestan in the Caucasus, which is one of Russia’s most dangerous and unstable regions.

For security reasons, the players live and train in the Moscow region and fly to Makhachkala, on the Caspian Sea coast, for home matches.

Anzhi were considered outsiders in the Russian top flight before the start of this season but in recent months the club displayed their ambition under powerful owner Suleiman Kerimov by signing veteran Brazilian star Roberto Carlos on a two-and-a-half year deal.

The 38-year-old 2002 World Cup winner was previously the league’s top earner with a reported annual salary of five million euros ($7.2m).

Later Anzhi also snapped up left winger Yuri Zhirkov from English Premier League giants Chelsea on a four-year deal.

Kerimov - who has made his fortune in the oil and metal industries and is also a Russian senator - then signed another Brazilian international, midfielder Jucilei da Silva, from Roberto Carlos’ former club Corinthians for 11 million euros ($15.9m).

Kerimov, who purchased Anzhi in January, also has plans to build a new stadium in Makhachkala, despite the city currently being renowned more for its militant attacks than the achievements of its football clubs.

Anzhi currently sit fourth in the Russian league table with 36 points from 21 matches.
 

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