Samuel Eto’o appears to have thrown some serious shade on Thierry Henry, claiming the Arsenal great was ‘not on my level’.
The Cameroonian legend has made a sensational claim about his former Barcelona teammate – going as far to say that Henry’s former teammate, Nicolas Anelka, was a better player.
Arsenal hero Henry is widely considered one of, if not the, greatest players to have ever graced the Premier League.
But it appears that’s not the opinion of Eto’o, who spent two years playing alongside the forward at the Camp Nou.
Speaking as part of a documentary on French/Cameroonian rapper Dinos, Eto’o was asked about ‘Titi’ – France’s all-time record goalscorer – and didn’t hold back.
“I think he wasn’t at Anelka’s level. Titi was good, but I preferred other players. In any case he was not at my level.”
He said.
Eto’o was also asked about former Liverpool and Senegal striker El Hadji Diouf and completely dismissed him being in the same conversation.
“I’m not talking about [El Hadji] Diouf because he’s not even in the same category,”
“How can you put Diouf next to Thierry Henry?”
He added.
Eto’o, who is now the president of the Cameroon FA, appeared to then explain how pundits and fans would have rated him higher during his career if he was French, suggesting French players were overhyped or ‘oversold’.
“The luck or the bad luck that I had was not to play for France,”
“Those who played in France had plus 70 per cent. It’s not because they were strong, but because France sells them better.
“They sold them to us and brought them up to our level.”
He continued in the documentary footage.
Eto’o and Henry were Barcelona players in one of the Catalan club’s most successful spells under Pep Guardiola, where they won the treble together in the 2008/09 season.
Despite appearing to be tension between the pair now, this wasn’t always the case with Eto’o once describing Henry as his ‘friend’.
Ahead of the Frenchman’s move to Barcelona in 2007, Eto’o was bullish when he responded to questions from the press that Henry was coming for his place in the Barca first-team – insisting they can ‘play together’.
“Some journalists wanted to create tension between ‘Titi’ and me – I am laughing,”
“I have ‘Titi’ on the phone all the time. If he comes to Barca, thinking he will put Samuel Eto’o on the bench, I say ‘no’. We will play together. We will be teammates.
“I do not enter any controversy. I would like the coach to sign ‘Titi’. He is my friend.”
The frontman had said.
Source: talkSport
