If reports are to believed, Samuel Eto’s wage packet at Anzhi was somewhere in region of £300,000 a week. A week! Unbelievable. It is debatable whether or not any footballer is worth that much, never mind Samuel Eto’o.
However, having said that, the Cameroon international is certainly a fine addition to Chelsea’s squad by his former manager Jose Mourniho. He is probably a little bit beyond the kind of form he showed at Barcelona and Inter Milan at the age of 32 but what he can bring to the squad is a lot of experience, as well as knowing what it takes to win.
Yes, one thing Eto’o certainly knows is how to win as he is was the first player to win back to back trebles with Barcelona and Inter Milan. Not too shabby, and Mourinho will be confident that he will be able to get the best out of the player like he did when the two were at Inter Milan.
What does this mean for Chelsea’s most expensive signing, disgruntled striker Fernando Torres? Does Eto’o’s arrival mean it is curtains for Torres’s time at the club? I think it would be unwise to let a player of Torres’s talent go so Eto’o has been recruited to supplant the Spaniard.
A man of Eto’o’s experience is important for this Chelsea team, too, as many of their of their first team are around the ages of 20-22 and the striker will provide some much needed balance.
Mourinho has built a squad that is ready to challenge for the title this season and Eto’o may very well be the final piece of the puzzle. If he and Torres can share the scoring load up front between themselves and Chelsea’s midfield maestros can continue to dazzle they will have no problem scoring goals. Unless, of course, Mourinho sets his team without a recognised striker as he did against on Manchester United on Monday night.
That was a terrible game of football, and perhaps it prompted Mourinho to set about finding himself a striker who can be used in rotation with Torres that has heaps of experience and the intelligence needed to play against top center half.