http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/14/roberto-martinez-samuel-etoo-leave-everton
Sampdoria and Eto’o’s former club
Internazionale are both interested in taking the striker back to Italy, while the three-times Champions League winner has been offered to MLS clubs. A return to Serie A appears more likely given the forward’s wage demands. Internazionale’s vice-president Javier Zanetti has said that his former team-mate “wants to come back to Italy. His return in Serie A would be most welcome.” The player’s agent, Claudio Vigorelli, meanwhile, claimed: “We will continue working towards coming to
Sampdoria,” but admitted there was “uncertainty” over the salary.
Everton would command a nominal fee for the former Barcelona forward should he depart this month but Martínez’s willingness to let Eto’o go represents a sudden deterioration in the veteran’s standing at Goodison Park. The forward signed a two-year contract with the Goodison club in August, albeit with the second year dependent on making 15 starts this term. The extension appeared a formality by the end of October when Eto’o had scored four goals in nine appearances and Martínez was praising the striker’s influence on and off the pitch.
“It’s natural he’ll get another year,” the Everton manager said following
the striker’s two-goal performance against Burnley. “I always thought his period at Everton would be a minimum of two years because the option reflects that.” Despite making 12 starts for Everton so far, Eto’o has not appeared in three of the team’s last four games. Martínez insisted on Monday that no “assets” would be leaving Everton in January but the Cameroonian evidently does not fall into that category.
The Everton manager said after the Cup exit: “With Samuel, we have a really good relationship and we are looking at his situation. We had a couple of clubs contact us in the last 12 hours so I decided it was better now to leave him out of the squad and allow us a different focus in the group. “We will decide in the next few days the next step. He’s been fantastic for us, we’ve got a really good relationship and we will see what’s the next best step for both parties.”
