Spurs' £24m bid for Eto'o falls short over wages

Leaving the Nou Camp? Spurs look likely to miss out on signing Samuel Eto'o because they will not meet the striker's wage demands

Simon Johnson|Football Correspondent13 April 2012

Tottenham are expected to fail in their audacious bid to sign Samuel Eto'o because of the Barcelona striker's wage demands.

It has been reported in Spain that manager Juande Ramos and other officials had talks with Barcelona on Monday after Spurs made a £24million bid to eclipse offers from Inter and AC Milan.

It was still below Barcelona's asking price, but they were prepared to negotiate as president Juan Laporta has accepted Eto'o is on his way out of the Nou Camp.

However, Spurs offer to Eto'o of around £107,000 a week is not considered high enough.

The sum is similar to the basic wage the Cameroon international gets paid now, but he also has a sizeable bonus package which Spurs are not prepared to match.

The attempt to sign Eto'o shows Ramos's ambition for next season, having already bought Croatian Luka Modric for £15.8m, but he will probably now turn to Real Zaragoza's Diego Milito.

Zaragoza are looking to sell the Argentine, who scored 17 goals this season, to ease their debts following their relegation to Spanish football's second division.

Meanwhile, Dimitar Berbatov's agent Emil Dantchev has confirmed that the striker's future will be decided in the next few weeks, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan expected to battle it out for his signature.