Atletico Madrid to land Eto'o this week

Atletico Madrid are expected to sign Real Mallorca striker Samuel Eto'o this week.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez intends to buy-out Mallorca's 50 per cent share of Eto'o's registration and immediately loan him to Madrid rivals Atletico for the new season.

The deal is already in the advanced stages, with Atletico coach Caesar Ferrando preparing to include Eto'o in his InterToto Cup line-up.

Perez chose to orchestrate the complicated transfer as he regards Eto'o as a future galactico and was aware that Barcelona had agreed personal terms with the Cameroon ace last month.

To keep Eto'o away from Real's bitter rivals, Perez decided to sign the player outright and loan him to Atletico. Real Madrid couldn't keep Eto'o themselves this season because of his non-EU status.