@FootynewsStill in his prime at barely 30, Samuel Eto'o took a call most footballers at that age would have hung up on. Instead he said yes to Anzhi Makhachkala, a club based in Dagestan, Russia, back in 2011. The money moving in that deal was something else. Inter walked away with roughly $39 million for the transfer, while the contract waiting on Eto'o's side was worth $29 million per season. Stack those numbers against the rest of the sport and nobody was touching him at the time. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were both earning less. The travel setup tells you plenty too. Moscow to Dagestan is no quick commute, so Eto'o used a private jet to get to training sessions and matches. That is a wild arrangement for a player who was still very much in his prime. On Inter's end, the exit meant they needed bodies up front, and the names they looked at included Diego Forlán, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and Carlos Tévez. Few players at 30 would have dared to take that kind of leap 🍪

@FootynewsStill in his prime at barely 30, Samuel Eto'o took a call most footballers at that age would have hung up on. Instead he said yes to Anzhi Makhachkala, a club based in Dagestan, Russia, back in 2011. The money moving in that deal was something else. Inter walked away with roughly $39 million for the transfer, while the contract waiting on Eto'o's side was worth $29 million per season. Stack those numbers against the rest of the sport and nobody was touching him at the time. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were both earning less. The travel setup tells you plenty too. Moscow to Dagestan is no quick commute, so Eto'o used a private jet to get to training sessions and matches. That is a wild arrangement for a player who was still very much in his prime. On Inter's end, the exit meant they needed bodies up front, and the names they looked at included Diego Forlán, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and Carlos Tévez. Few players at 30 would have dared to take that kind of leap 🍪