Inter Milan has nearly reached a deal to send Samuel Eto'o to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, a transfer that could make the Cameroon striker the highest paid footballer in the world. Anzhi is expected to give Eto'o a three-year contract worth €20 million ($29 million) per season, eclipsing the estimated €12 million ($17.4 million) that Cristiano Ronaldo earns at Real Madrid and the €10.5 million ($15.2 million) that Lionel Messi is paid by Barcelona. Inter was negotiating with Anzhi officials in Milan for a transfer fee between €20 and €30 million ($29 and $43 million) for the 30-year-old Eto'o. “We're very close. We could close today, tomorrow or next week,” Anzhi representative German Tkachenko said late Wednesday, according to the ANSA news agency. Eto'o also met with Anzhi officials in Milan Wednesday. Anzhi is owned by billionaire oil tycoon Suleiman Kerimov. The transfer fee would also make it one of the most expensive deals this season, near the €29 million ($42 million) Barcelona paid Arsenal Monday to bring Cesc Fabregas back to his boyhood club. Meanwhile, playmaker Wesley Sneijder appears set to remain at Inter. “There was never any sort of deal for Wes,” Moratti said. “If Eto'o goes he stays, but seeing as Sneijder was untouchable even before this possibility, he's even more so now.” Spanish league players move closer to strike Talks between the Spanish football league (LFP) and the Spanish players' union (AFE) Wednesday failed to avert the strike action called for this weekend. “We haven't reached any kind of agreement,” LFP president Jose Luis Astiazaran told reporters after the first meeting between the two sides since the strike was invoked last week. “The AFE have dug their heels in. There are important differences but we will have to continue moving forward.” The AFE have called strike action for the first two weekends of Spain's top two divisions, which are scheduled to kick off on Saturday, demanding greater protection for players' wages at clubs who have gone into financial administration.
