BARCELONA
Eto'o: "I told Pep that I would be the one to make Barça win and not Messi"
Eto'o says his transfer to Inter Milan was the best transfer in the history of football for the Italian side after Guardiola told Barcelona to sell him after one year together.
Samuel Eto'o, the 28-year-old Qatar SC striker, has spoken about his time under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona. When the former Barcelona player took over as the manager, he was quick to highlight Eto'o and Ronaldinho as two players who he didn't want in his squad. He could not, however, offload the Cameroonian and they shared a year together at the club before he was eventually shipped to Inter Milan.
"Pep lived his whole life in Barcelona but during the years he spent there, he didn't understand the squad," Eto'o told BeIN Sports. "He didn't live the life of our group. I said to him 'forgive me but I am the one that will win for Barcelona, not Messi.' It was I who won for Barça and Pep should apologise to me."
Eto'o says it was his era before Messi's
The striker explained that Messi, who he says is the best footballer in history, didn't emerge until later on in his career and he says Xavi and Iniesta can back up the claim. "That was the situation at that moment. Messi emerged later but you can ask Xavi, Iniesta and the others that this was my era."
On the other hand, he spoke about his departure from the club when his lawyer called him and told him Barcelona had put him on sale. "My lawyer told me that the club had put me on the transfer market and that it was Guardiola's request. Today, it's obvious that the move and the opportunity that Pep gave me helped my part in history because it allowed me to be more part of the history of football by going to Inter. It allowed Inter to make the best transfer in the history of football."