Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o is set to become the highest-paid footballer in the world after reports claimed a deal had been reached with Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala.
Italian media reported on Sunday that the two clubs have agreed on a transfer fee of $38.9million while Eto’o is expected to ink a three-year contract worth $28.8million per season when the deal is formalised on Monday.
This would put the Cameroon international’s salary above the estimated $17.3million that Real Madrid pay Cristiano Ronaldo and the $15.1million that Lionel Messi currently earns at Barcelona.
Eto’o was Inter’s leading scorer last season and has played over 100 games for the Italian giants, scoring 53 goals. The 30-year-old Eto’o joined Inter from Barcelona in the summer of 2009 in a deal which saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic move in the other direction.
He has won three UEFA Champions League titles – two with Barca and one with Inter – during his career so far.
Anzhi are backed by billionaire oil tycoon Suleiman Kerimov.
Fact : £21.8m. That's Samuel Eto'o's pre-tax salary for the next three years (and this being modern Russia, income tax is only about 10% for the mega-rich).
That's:
8 per cent of the GDP of the Marshall Islands.
0.16 per cent of the GDP of Cameroon.
10 times his own weight in gold.
6 years at the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.
Enough money for Arsene Wenger to scour the market thoroughly and decide there's no value out there.
