Cameroon international Samuel Eto o claims his transfer to Anzhi Makhachkala was motivated by more than his reportedly enormous salary.
Eto o, 30, finalised his move to Russian Premier League club Anzhi from Serie A side Inter Milan after passing a medical on Wednesday, with the fee involved estimated to be 18.4 million pounds.
Details of the striker s salary have not been confirmed, but some reports claim he is set to earn as much as 21.8 million pounds per season, making his base salary one of the highest of any professional sportsperson.
Wages aside, the transfer appears an unusual move for a player at arguably the peak of his career and widely regarded to be among the best centre-forwards in Europe.
Eto o joins an Anzhi squad that do not reside in Makhachkala, but instead train in Moscow, making a journey of more than 1000km to play home matches in the Dagestan Republic s capital.
Nevertheless, Eto o claims money was not his sole motivation for agreeing to the surprise transfer.
It s really important that the club management believes in me, and I want to trust them back, Eto o said.
I hope that my strengths allow the club to achieve their goals.
The project is very interesting, money is not so important for me, that s just part of football, Eto o said.
I came from Cameroon to be happy here and make others happy as well.
Eto o will play alongside Brazilian veteran Roberto Carlos, who signed for Anzhi in February, and Russia international Yuri Zhirkov, acquired from Chelsea in August.
Anzhi, owned by billionare Suleyman Kerimov, were founded in 1991 and reached the Russian Premier League for first time in 1999.
They were relegated again in 2002 and did not return to the top flight until 2009.
