Everton announced on Tuesday that they have signed Cameroon great Samuel Eto’o on a free transfer after he was released by Chelsea at the end of last season.
The 33-year-old striker has signed a two-year contract and could make his debut against his former club on Saturday, when Chelsea visit Goodison Park in the Premier League.
“I met him and we had a very good chat about football in general, and I was impressed about the hunger he still has,” Everton manager Roberto Martinez told the club’s official Web site.
Photo: AFP
“For someone who has achieved nearly everything, he still has the desire he had at 15 when he went to Spain and showed what he could do. For many reasons he has got a point to prove,” Martinez added. “We are very excited and I think Everton is the perfect home for him. The fans will make him ready and feel sharp, but we have got to be a bit patient with the fitness levels and make sure he is back to his best.”
Eto’o scored 12 goals for Chelsea last season after signing from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala, including a hat-trick against Manchester United.
However, his relationship with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho came under scrutiny after the Portuguese was caught on camera by a French TV channel apparently casting doubt on on Eto’o’s age.
“I am very happy to be here. I am looking forward greatly to putting on the blue shirt of Everton,” said Eto’o, who is Cameroon’s record goalscorer.
“I have been very impressed by the style of play Everton adopt. I could see straight away that at this club I will have the opportunity to play football,” he added
“I had the chance to speak with the manager over the last few days and we agreed that this was what we would do. I was impressed with his enthusiasm, but also by the knowledge of football that Roberto Martinez carries, his vision of football and how he reads football. I still think I can learn a great deal from him here,” he said.
Eto’o is to provide backup for Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who joined Everton from Chelsea in a club-record ￡28 million (US$47.4 million) deal last month.
Eto’o has won three Champions League titles — two with Barcelona and one with Inter Milan — and has been crowned African Player of the Year on four occasions.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS