More on Eto'o

Eto’o is believed to be keen to secure the sort of signing-on fee he could expect if he saw out the remaining year of his contract at the Nou Camp and left on a free transfer. However, his agent Josep Maria Mesalles on Tuesday insisted reports that half of the transfer fee – around £12 million – had been demanded were "absolutely untrue".

Sources at City are adamant that the Premier League side have no plans to increase their offer to club or player, believing any dispute over how the transfer fee is divided to be an issue between Eto’o, who is believed to be unhappy at the price tag the club have placed on him, and Barcelona.

>>telegraph.co.uk

From the reports we have seen the past day or so, it does suggest that money is really at the heart of all this - principally that Eto'o is trying to eke out as much as possible whether he moves or signs a new deal. The Independent suggests we are now standing aside to let Barca and Eto'o sort any issues between themselves, and that we will not be raising our offer.

This has got the potential to drag on throughout the summer, a distraction that will not be helpful in any way, so as good an addition as Eto'o is, surely some timeline needs to be imposed with regards to a decision one way or the other.