Eto'o seeks payout from Barcelona
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 @ 4:00 PM
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o is demanding almost £2.75m from Spanish club Barcelona after his transfer to Italian side Inter Milan.
The amount represents 15% of the US$29 million (£17.7m) fee which the Inter paid Barcelona in July.
His demand is based on a Spanish rule that a player should get 15% of the amount of his transfer to another Spanish club.
If the parties fail to reach a solution the matter could got to court.
But Barcelona argues it does not owe Eto'o anything because the rule is an agreement between Spanish clubs and that the percentage payment is the responsibility of the club that buys the player.
A Spanish judge in February 2008 found in a similar case that Deportivo La Coruna had to pay approximately £1.9m to Spanish striker Albert Luque, the equivalent of 15% of his transfer to Newcastle in August 2005.
"We are going to defend our interests," the Barcelona official said, adding each transfer was different.
The deal for Eto'o also saw Inter's Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic go in the opposite direction for US$68 million (£41.6m).
BBC Sport