Samuel Eto’o is set for his second spell in Russia, or so this apparently cheeky social media post by FC Akmar would lead us to believe.
The former Chelsea striker posing with a shirt for the club led plenty to believe he’d signed with the Perm-based club and is returning to the league which once made him the highest-paid player in the world.
“Today, Belek, Turkey. More details later,” the club said in a tweet with Eto’o holding a No 36 shirt.
Belek is about 90 minutes’ drive from the base of Alanyaspor, where Eto’o has been based for the past two years.
There has been reported interest from other Turkish clubs Fenerbahce and Besiktas, denied by Alanyaspor, so a move could be on the cards.
However, there are appears to be a simple explanation – the photo is just a sign of his close friendship with former Anzhi Makhachkala boss Gadzhi Gadzhiyev, who’s now in charge of Akmar.
The Russian club’s general director Igor Rezvukhin told Sport express: “Eto’o is our friend, don’t try to find something more in this case.
“Our coach knows Samuel so they decided to take a photo. Is Eto’o coming to Amkar? Of course not. In the future? It is sport, it is football, so who knows?”
Eto’o began his senior career at Real Madrid and enjoyed his greatest success at Barcelona where he scored 108 goals in 145 appearances and finished third in 2005’s World Player of the Year voting.
The 35-year-old made history when he arrived at Anzhi Makhachkala as the world’s highest-paid player in 2011 on £17million a year.
But when the club’s billionaire owner looked to cut back his wage budget two years later it paved the way for his arrival in the Premier League at Chelsea in 2013-14.
He’s since played for Everton and Sampdoria in Italy before moving to Turkey.
