Chelsea Transfer News: Samuel Eto'o Would Be Backwards Move for Blues

Samuel Eto’o has issued a “come and get me” plea to Chelsea, as the Cameroonian looks for a future outside his current Russian environment.

That’s according to the Daily Mail’s John Drayton, who touches on Anzhi Makhachkala’s need to offload the majority of their first team after finding that a free-spending method hasn’t brought them the success they desire.

Eto’o has been with the Russian outfit since 2011 and became the world’s highest-paid player upon his arrival at the club.

However, the 32-year-old is now keen to link back up with Jose Mourinho, whom he worked with during the pair’s stint at Inter together.

Speaking after Anzhi’s predicament was announced, Eto’o stated in no uncertain terms:

"

There is only one Jose Mourinho. I have played under a lot of great coaches - but there is no other character in the game like Jose. 

He is one of the best coaches in the world - and we had a lot of success together at Inter Milan. I would like to have the chance to play under him again - because it is never boring when Jose is around.

Of course Chelsea are a great team - and when we have all the offers on the table then I will discuss with my agent and see what my next step is.

"

For Chelsea, things couldn’t be much simpler. They have a three-time Champions League winner who would appear very hungry for a move to Stamford Bridge and they’re in need of a reliable striker.

However, Eto’o’s Champions League days were a long time ago and there’s no assurances that he would provide the same scoring outlet that he once did at the likes of Inter and Barcelona.

Last season, Eto’o netted 10 league goals and made six assists in 25 Russian Premier League appearances. Although still commendable, the numbers aren’t exactly the kind of gold dust one imagines they'd getting their hands on for the money they’d be paying out.

What’s more, it was a mere month ago that Roman Abramovich came out to discipline the Chelsea approach, saying that more emphasis had to be placed on their youth academy, per Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail.

Were 32-year-old Eto’o to join the club, it would directly conflict with those claims, putting just another player in the way of Romelu Lukaku or any other youngster bursting into the first team.

At the time of his Anzhi move in 2011, the Daily Mail also reported that Eto’o would be making no less than £350,000-a-week in Russia.

Given his age and the length of contract he’d be hoping to sign, there’s no way Eto’o could complete his Mourinho reunion without agreeing to a substantially lower salary, which would need to be reduced by at least several hundred thousand pounds per week.

In all, there’s simply too many other viable options for Chelsea to even begin a pursuit of Eto’o, unless the African is eager enough that he’ll put his financial gains to one side in order to make it happen.

In truth, even at his age, there’s no reason Eto’o couldn’t still be a scoring success in the Premier League, but this is the transfer Chelsea needed in 2011 and not the one they need right now.