Football Espana | Former Cameroon, Inter and Real Madrid forward Samuel Eto’o was one of the finest of his generation, and was responsible in no small part for Barcelona’s second glorious era in the modern game under Frank Rijkaard and then Pep Guardiola. A curious character, he spent five years at Barcelona, but reportedly never moved out of a hotel.
Eto’o was signed from RCD Mallorca for €27m in 2004, and spent five enormously successful years at the club, winning three La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues with the Blaugrana. According to Alfonso Arus on La Sexta (via Marca), Eto’o spent his entire spell in the Catalan capital at the Hotel Arts in the Vila Olimpic neighbourhood.
Despite the five-star hotel being just meters away from some of the city’s most popular nightlife destinations on the beachfront, Eto’o lived a mostly quiet life according to Arus.
“He didn’t go out late, he lived there and he paid €2.6k,” Arus said, claiming it was just him and his entourage there.
If indeed he was staying at the hotel for the entirety of his five years, then he would have spent a remarkable €4.75m in total. Eto’o is currently President of the Cameroon FA, but is serving a suspension handed by FIFA due to alleged match-fixing.