Done deal: Chelsea will confirm the signing of Samuel Eto'o as Jose Mourinho ends his search for a striker
Seal the deal: Eto'o shakes hands with Pini Zahavi (left picture) and strides towards his car (right)
Whisked away: Eto'o, who is set to take a huge pay cut to join Chelsea, leaves St Pancras on Wednesday night
Solution? Samuel Eto'o will seal his move to Chelsea as Jose Mourinho ended his striker search
Target: Mourinho didn't select any strikers at Old Trafford and the chase for Wayne Rooney seems to be over
Chelsea will sign Samuel Eto’o on a stunning £7million one-year deal on Thursday after admitting defeat in their pursuit of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.
Eto’o, the 32-year-old Cameroon forward, is taking a huge pay cut from the £17m a year that made him the world’s best paid footballer at Anzhi Makhachkala and will sign on a free transfer.However, Anzhi are understood to have sweetened the deal by giving Eto’o a multi-million-pound lump sum to get him off their wage bill.
He arrived at London's St Pancras station on Wednesday night, where he was pictured with super-agent Pini Zahavi, and is due to have a medical at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground before finalising terms after his advisers held talks.
NO OLDS BARRED AT CHELSEA
Chelsea have dabbled before with veteran forwards — and seen very mixed results . . .
George Weah
Africa’s greatest ever player arrived in 2000 from AC Milan, aged 33. He was rarely given a chance under Gianluca Vialli, despite scoring on his debut against Spurs.
VERDICT: Miss.
Africa’s greatest ever player arrived in 2000 from AC Milan, aged 33. He was rarely given a chance under Gianluca Vialli, despite scoring on his debut against Spurs.
VERDICT: Miss.
Gianfranco Zola
Came to London in 1996 at 30 years old and was a revelation. Turned out 312 times, scoring 80 goals, and earned the Bridge’s eternal respect.
VERDICT: Hit.
Came to London in 1996 at 30 years old and was a revelation. Turned out 312 times, scoring 80 goals, and earned the Bridge’s eternal respect.
VERDICT: Hit.
Gianluca Vialli
The 32-year-old rejected Rangers to sign for Ruud Gullit in 1996. It was £600,000 well spent. Vialli netted 40 goals in 78 games, then proved a successful manager.
VERDICT: Hit.
The 32-year-old rejected Rangers to sign for Ruud Gullit in 1996. It was £600,000 well spent. Vialli netted 40 goals in 78 games, then proved a successful manager.
VERDICT: Hit.
Pop Robson
The Newcastle and West Ham legend joined Chelsea aged 36 in 1982. He scored on his debut, but added just two more goals as he combined playing with coaching.
VERDICT: Miss.
The Newcastle and West Ham legend joined Chelsea aged 36 in 1982. He scored on his debut, but added just two more goals as he combined playing with coaching.
VERDICT: Miss.
Andriy Shevchenko
Milan mourned when Sheva left ahead of his 30th birthday for £30.8m. But Chelsea fans were soon feeling depressed too as the Ukrainian laboured to 22 goals in three miserable seasons.
VERDICT: Miss.
Milan mourned when Sheva left ahead of his 30th birthday for £30.8m. But Chelsea fans were soon feeling depressed too as the Ukrainian laboured to 22 goals in three miserable seasons.
VERDICT: Miss.
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, a confirmed Eto’o admirer, turned to his Plan B after United refused to sell Rooney.
Indeed,
the England striker’s immediate future at Old Trafford looks assured
after he took to his Facebook page to voice appreciation of the support
he received from United fans during his outstanding performance in
Monday night’s goalless draw between the sides.
Rooney posted: ‘It was an unbelievable reaction from the fans, so thank you. I really appreciate your support. It means a lot.’
Mourinho
may try again for Rooney later in the season, but for now he is content
with Eto’o, about whom he once said: ‘Any coach would be stupid not to
want to have a striker like him.’
There is a kinship between the Chelsea coach and his new signing.
Eto’o
has never been short of an opinion. At Barcelona he took a microphone
on live television and called his former club Real Madrid ‘b*****ds’ to
celebrate Barcelona’s 2005 Spanish title; he dared to publicly attack
Ronaldinho’s work-rate and justifiably threatened to leave the field
when racially abused from the stands in Zaragoza.
It is no surprise that his first exchange with Mourinho was a heated one.
In
the tunnel at Stamford Bridge in 2005 when Chelsea beat Barcelona in
the Champions League, a melee followed between players, and Eto’o was
vocal in his opinion of Chelsea’s tactics. Mourinho liked the striker’s
feistiness.
‘I liked the fact he was worked up after a defeat,’ recalled the Portuguese.
Reunion: Eto'o and Mourinho won the treble at Inter Milan in 2010
That fire was put to good use when the
two joined forces at Inter Milan where Eto’o was the spearhead for
Mourinho’s Treble-winning side. During that time, the four-time African
Player of the Year scored a winner at Stamford Bridge to end Chelsea’s
Champions League hopes.
Silky
of touch, dedicated and clinical, Eto’o is also one to nurture the
young players around him, a factor that will not be lost on his coach.
Questions
will be asked whether he has the pace which made him such a feared
opponent in Italy and Spain and there was evidence in Russia and the
Europa League last year that his power is dwindling with age.
However,
his speed of thought and relationship with Chelsea’s other Anzhi
recruit, the Brazilian Willian, still spawned a goal ratio of one every
two games. It is a gamble Mourinho is prepared to take and one
appreciated by Eto’o.
‘There
is only one Jose Mourinho,’ Eto’o once said about his former manager.
‘I have played under a lot of great coaches but there is no other
character in the game like Jose.
Defeat: The signing effectively kills any hope Mourinho had of signing United striker Rooney
Writing's on the wall: Wayne Rooney took to Facebook to thank Old Trafford fans against Chelsea
'I would like to have the chance
to play under him again because it is never boring when Jose is
around.’ Eto’o’s arrival comes as a further blow to the three strikers
already at Stamford Bridge.
Fernando
Torres and Romelu Lukaku were on the bench at Old Trafford on Monday
night and Demba Ba, wanted back at Newcastle by Alan Pardew, was not
even in the squad.
The
arrivals of Willian and Eto’o will not signal the end of Chelsea’s
spending. The club are in talks with Porto for Christian Atsu, a
£4m-rated winger also wanted by Cardiff, Tottenham and Liverpool. But
the 21-year-old Ghana flyer is concerned he will get little playing time
among Chelsea’s galaxy of attacking stars.
If
they do sign Atsu ahead of free-spending Spurs, it will be a second
triumph over Andre Villas-Boas this summer, following Willian.
Last
week he had seemed to be on the verge of a move to White Hart Lane and
even had a medical before a late move from Chelsea prised him away from
Tottenham.
Mourinho gave evidence on the 25-year-old’s behalf to convince the Home Office to grant him a work permit.
Another new face: Chelsea are also in talks to sign Porto's Ghanian winger Christian Atsu
A delighted Willian said: ‘It’s
going to be an immense pleasure to work with Jose Mourinho, to listen to
him and learn from him. He’s one of the best coaches in the world with
everything he’s won. I’m sure I’m going to learn a lot and improve a
lot.
‘My style is that I
like to dribble a lot and play with speed. I like to accelerate very
fast with the ball. I’m also quite technical and like to shoot at goal.
‘When
the offer came I never gave a thought to anybody else, I said to myself
that I would run here, and I’m happy to be here now. Chelsea was always
my first choice.’
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