Football
ESPN staff 9y

Sampdoria hopeful over Samuel Eto'o despite New York Cosmos interest

Sampdoria are optimistic Samuel Eto'o will join them this month despite New York Cosmos having entered the race for the Everton striker.

The former Cameroon forward is reported to have agreed an 18-month contract with Samp and to be willing to reduce his wages by 40 percent in order to return to Italy, but the 33-year-old has yet to reach an agreement to leave Goodison Park.

The Cosmos have confirmed to ESPN FC that they would also be keen to sign him if they could reach an agreement with Everton, and the Premier League club's boss Roberto Martinez said on Tuesday: "The Samuel Eto'o situation is something that we're going to make sure that the next two weeks is a period of reflection and see what's the next move in that respect."

The former Barcelona star remains contracted with Everton until June 2016 and the Toffees want to find a replacement for him before any deal is concluded, Samp sporting director Carlo Osti has said, but he remains hopeful a deal will be completed.

Osti told Sky Italia: "Our agreement with Eto'o has almost been finalised. He wants to join Sampdoria -- those are his intentions.

"He is currently negotiating with Everton to resolve his contract with them. Everton are looking for a replacement.

"It might take a day more than expected, but we are moderately optimistic on Eto'o and hope he can arrive as soon as possible.

"I think Eto'o is a player of great character who can only help this group of mature players grow even more."

Eto'o spent two seasons at Inter Milan and was a member of the 2010 treble-winning side that won the Serie A title, Coppa Italia and Champions League under Jose Mourinho.

Samp, coached by Sinisa Mihajlovic, are fourth in Serie A, level on 33 points with third-placed Napoli at the halfway stage of the season.

Information from the Press Association was used in this report

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