When he was at Mallorca - and before he became a legend at Barcelona - Samuel Eto'o attracted enough interest from Rangers that then manager Alex McLeish spoke about the player in public to the press. Unthinkably though, the manager didn't seem all that keen on the link, despite the club having watched the player, who impressed assistant boss Andy Watson: as McLeish downplayed the suggestion that he might be their top priority. McLeish told Rangers' official website:
"Samuel Eto'o is a player I like, but there are a lot of players out there that I like. "There were a number of excellent players on show in the Cameroon-Argentina game which Andy watched, including Marc-Vivien Foe, who is a midfield player. There are a lot of players out there who we would love to bring to Rangers, but we will do it when the time is right."
Ultimately, Eto'o stayed with Mallorca before earning a move to Barca.
