Major League Soccer has responded to the potential loss of David Beckham to Paris Saint-Germain by making an extraordinary approach to recruit Samuel Eto'o.
The bid underlines the expansion of football's financial power away from western Europe, with the MLS prepared to match the unprecedented €20 million (Dh96m) salary Eto'o agreed to for a move to Russia in August.
The MLS, which manages the recruitment of overseas players on a league-wide basis, would likely place Eto'o with the LA Galaxy or New York Red Bulls, the league's premier franchises.
Anzhi Makhachkala, the Dagestan-based club that recruited Eto'o from Inter Milan, have yet to respond to a formal statement of the interest in the former African Player of the Year but are understood to value him at more than €48m.
Owned by the billionaire investor Suleyman Kerimov, Anzhi are in a state of flux following a reshuffle of the club's executives and the appointment of Yuri Krasnozhan, the former Lokomotiv Moscow coach, last week. Anzhi had previously held extensive discussions with Guus Hiddink and Fabio Capello about taking up the post. They currently lie seventh in the Russian League.
Eto'o is understood to have encouraged the interest from the MLS. Anzhi's concerns to keep the striker happy in Russia have extended to gifting Eto'o a Bugatti Veyron supercar worth Dh6m.
Beckham has acted as the figurehead of MLS since leaving Real Madrid for LA Galaxy in the summer of 2007. He has been the league's highest salaried player and even at 36 retains such a significant commercial value within football that PSG's Qatari owners are prepared to pay him €12.6m for an 18-month spell in the Ligue 1.
The MLS have presented Beckham with a single-year rolling contract extension in an effort to keep him in the States. The new Galaxy deal includes provision for Beckham to play for Great Britain's Olympic team next summer and may yet prove preferable for family reasons.
As well as Eto'o, the MLS have also discussed signing Didier Drogba, whose is free to agree a pre-contract with non-English clubs from today. The Chelsea striker has shown an interest in the terms on offer at Anzhi.
Drogba is wanted in China with Shanghai Shenhua proposing a similar improvement on his Stamford Bridge pay as they recently granted Nicolas Anelka.
Elsewhere, Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, has told Steven Pienaar to find himself a new club less than a year after signing the South Africa international from Everton. Pienaar, 29, was sidelined by a series of injuries last year and since recovering his fitness this season has not been used in a single Premier League fixture. Tottenham are expected to ask £6 million (Dh34.5m) for the midfielder; Everton attempted to bring him back on loan last summer.
Queens Park Rangers are close to completing the loan signing of Federico Macheda, the Manchester United striker.
The Italy Under 21 international is also wanted by Fulham, Wigan Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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