Txiki: We Will Have Eto’o Replacement

In the lengthy interview with El Mundo Deportivo, Txiki touched on several key topics about the club but the highlight was undoubtedly the ongoing Samuel Eto’o transfer headache.

Ever since the conclusion of last season, the question on everyone’s lips has been when will he leave and where to, rather than if he will leave. Although the striker’s future is still unresolved, Txiki has declared that if Eto’o does exit the Camp Nou, the club will have a replacement ready to take his spot.

“Whether or not he leaves depends exclusively on him. We have come to an agreement that he can join whichever club that makes us a concrete offer but until now, that has not happened,” he began.

Txiki then confirmed that while agents and intermediaries have enquired about the player, there hasn’t been a club who have asked to negotiate directly with the Blaugrana.

Despite Eto’o making life difficult for the Catalan club to off-load him, there was praise for his behaviour and attitude on the pitch.

“He trains just like anyone else in the squad. He takes it very seriously and he is working at a very high level. He is showing a model behaviour and we hope this continues,” Begiristain revealed.

The 43 year old technical director also affirmed that the club will register him for the Champions League squad for the third qualifying round, but cautioned that they will wait until the last minute before including his name on the list, so as not to diminish his value by becoming cup-tied with his future club.

When asked if there will be signings to replace the 27 year old marksmen should he leave, Txiki had not doubts about the answer.

“Yes, definitely yes. But if he stays, then no. Pep does not want to have four ‘number nines’ (strikers) in the team. With Henry, Bojan and Eto’o already in our squad, another will be too many.”

While it’s easy to say the club will find a replacement, actually signing someone to fill the Cameroonian’s shoes is a different story altogether.

“The transfer market is very tight right now and there isn’t a particular striker who interests us or is easily accessible.

“We do like a number of players, such as Drogba, Adebayor and Berbatov, but their respective clubs do not want to sell them at any cost, while Benzema has stated that he wants to stay at Lyon for another season.”

Eto’o’s future may have a resolution within a fortnight as Barça will have to finalize their squad for the Champions League qualifiers against either Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow before the 12^th of August.

KS Leong