“Stratospheric” offer for Eto´o

Barcelona have received a “stratospheric” offer for their Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o but they want him to stay, club chairman Joan Laporta said Sunday.

“He has a stratospheric offer which would make him the world’s best-paid player,” Laporta told Spanish radio in comments published on the club’s website.

However, Laporta has said all along he wants to keep the forward while sports daily AS reported last week that there was a dearth of offers for the star, who bagged 30 goals in La Liga last season and also hit the opener in the 2-0 Champions League final win over Manchester United.

“I think Eto’o would like to stay and I would like him to,” Laporta stressed.

Eto’o’s current contract only runs for another year and AS indicated wage demands of some ten million euros a year were frightening off top clubs, although big-spending English Premier League club Manchester City, French side Lyon and Italy’s Inter Milan are all said to be interested.

City’s initial interest has waned with the club landing Paraguayan forward Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn.

Spanish media have tipped Valencia’s David Villa, Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan and Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic as possible replacements for Eto’o if he should leave.

Laporta admitted keen interest in Bayern Munich’s French star Franck Ribery and added Barca were set to complete the signing of Brazilian striker Keirrison from Sao Paolo side Palmeiras.