Manchester City are ready to push on with plans to land Inter Milan superstar Samuel Eto'o.
The Daily Mail says City had opened tentative discussions with Inter over a possible swap involving Carlos Tevez and Eto'o last month but that was abandoned as figures, including the wage demands of the Cameroon striker, got too high.
However the latest step in the long-running saga involves an £18m transfer fee which is completely independent of Tevez, and Eto'o is keen to talk.
The two-time Champions League winner hopes to secure one final big contract before his stock begins to drop as he gets older, and was unimpressed when he held discussions with Inter president Massimo Moratti about improving his current deal. He wants a further two years with a salary to match City's offer.
Last month, he said: "It is true that I have a few offers, I have a month off now to evaluate all of them and decide what to do. I'm 30, I'm close to my final big contract and we'll have to see whether I should stay or go.
"My eventual departure is not to try to earn 100,000 or 200,000 euros more. What matters in my career is being happy in a city, playing for a big club where I can enjoy myself."
