Tottenham have distanced themselves from reports linking the club with a bid for Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o.

Spanish sources have indicated the 27-year-old is considered surplus to requirements at the Nou Camp and Barcelona are trying drum up an auction.

There are also reports both Juande Ramos, the London side's Spanish manager, and Damien Comolli, their French sporting director, have had meetings with Eto'o's representatives - a claim firmly denied by Tottenham.

Spurs were close to signing Eto'o five years ago when he was with Real Mallorca but the move broke down over financial terms. Since then he has scored 77 goals in 108 games for Barcelona but is no longer an automatic selection.

A club source said: "The normal thing here is that when we sign a player we announce it but we don't comment at all on just speculation.

"A problem is that there is so much of it from so many sources that if fans keep reading this speculation they are in danger of being misled."