bbc.co.uk

Chelsea have signed Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o on a free transfer from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala

The 32-year-old joins the Premier League team on a one-year-deal.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was Eto’o’s boss at Inter Milan when they won the Champions League in 2010.

“It wasn’t a hard decision. I saw the qualities Chelsea have, and I was very happy with Jose Mourinho before, so when the opportunity came, I was very happy to take it,” Eto’o said.

“I am very happy to be here but also anxious because I want to get playing as soon as possible.”

Mourinho moved for Eto’o after two Chelsea bids for Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney were rejected.

Earlier this week, it emerged Rooney was not prepared to force a move by handing in a formal transfer request, effectively ending the Blues’s hopes of signing the England striker.

Four-time African Footballer of the Year Eto’o was a key part of Mourinho’s Champions League-winning Inter side, and became the highest-paid player in the world when he moved to Anzhi in 2011.

The Russian club have also sold Brazil attacking midfielder Willian, 25, to Chelsea after their billionaire owner Suleyman Kerimov decided to significantly reduce the club’s budget.

Eto’o started his career at Real Madrid but was loaned out to Leganes and Real Mallorca before making a permanent move to Mallorca in 1999.

The striker, part of the Cameroon team that lifted the African Nations Cup in 2002, won the Copa del Rey before joining Barcelona in 2004.

During his time at the Nou Camp, he won the Champions League twice – in 2006 and 2009 – scoring in both finals, as well as winning the Spanish league three times.

In 2009, Barcelona paid Inter Milan £40m plus Eto’o for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the striker went on to win the Champions League again in his first season under Mourinho at the San Siro.

He joined Anzhi, where he reportedly earned £167,825 a week, in 2011.