Chelsea seal deal to sign Samuel Eto'o

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Samuel Eto’o as part of the negotiations to acquire Willian for £30 million from Anzhi Makhachkala which will end their attempts to buy Wayne Rooney this summer.

The double signing could be announced later this week. The transfer of Eto’o, the 32-year-old former Inter Milan and Barcelona striker, is part of the agreement to sign Brazil midfielder Willian but Jose Mourinho does not want Eto’o’s involvement to become public until after Monday night’s Premier League game against Manchester United. Mourinho hopes that continuing the speculation over Chelsea’s interest in Rooney, who may start, will unsettle United.

Rooney had hoped to join Chelsea this summer but is now resigned to staying at United and, it is understood, fully prepared to run down his contract in the hope of either leaving in January or more likely next summer when Moyes may be more prepared to sell. Chelsea have indicated that they will wait for Rooney, who has two years left on his contract, and they regard Eto’o as a stopgap.

The fee for Eto’o, the highest-paid player at the Russian club, is thought to be around £2 million. Tottenham Hotspur , who had agreed a deal to sign Willian until it was hijacked by Chelsea, are furious at having missed out on the midfielder and the collapse of the move could delay Gareth Bale’s impending departure to Real Madrid. Spurs are determined to bring in another attacking player first as well as sign Roma forward Erik Lamela.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea's clash with United, Mourinho was happy to discuss the possibility of signing Rooney, for whom Chelsea have had two bids rejected, even arguing that United should sell to them to keep the striker in England.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk