Barca claim Eto'o victory

Barcelona believe they have completed the transfer of Samuel Eto'o.

One of the longest-running and most complicated transfer sagas of the summer appears to be drawing to an end with Barca now favourites to land the Cameroon international.

Eto'o is half owned by both Mallorca and Real Madrid and, as such, Real have an option on the 23-year-old which allows them to acquire his services if they offer 50 percent of the highest offer that Mallorca receive for the striker.

That offer is currently the ‚é¼21 million bid from Real's arch rivals Barca who have been pursuing the hit-man all summer.

Barca submitted their bid last Monday and claim that Real's option to match their offer was valid for only one week, and has subsequently now passed.

Reports in Spain now claim that Eto'o will undergo a medical at Camp Nou on Thursday after the Catalan giants agreed a deal with their arch-rivals for the African star.     

It appears that Real have no intention of signing Eto'o, especially as they already have three non-EU players in their squad, but are determined to try and scupper the player's move to their Catalan enemies.

Eto'o's representative Jose Maria Mesalles is convinced this is the case, and insists Los Merengues have not made any attempt to sit down with his client to talk about a possible return to El Santiago Bernabeu.

"I understand that the only thing they are doing is delaying his departure, but at no time have they had an interest in him," blasted Mesalles.

"If they were interested in him as a player, they would first have to sit down with him and talk to him."

However, a new twist to the story has emerged with some sources now claiming that Real are looking at the possibility of using Eto'o as bait to help clinch a deal for Liverpool's Michael Owen.

The England international, who is stalling over signing a new contract at Anfield, has been widely tipped for a shock move to the Spanish capital and Madrid are understood to want to fund the deal by offering the African star in exchange.