Rooney, Drogba, Crespo, & more: Looking back at 2004's transfer merry-go-round of strikers

2. Samuel Eto'o - Mallorca to Barcelona (£24 million, 26th August, 2004)

Eto'o won the treble with Barcelona in 2009

The finest African striker since George Weah, Samuel Eto'o was known for being a fast, energetic striker possessing exceptional dribbling ability, excellent close control, accurate shots. He was also an immense aerial threat. Primarily plying his trade as a centre forward, he showcased his footballing intelligence throughout his career by adapting to the manager's preferred system and playing in other positions, most notably under Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.

Eto'o joined Real Madrid's youth set-up in 1997 but failed to progress to the first team and made only 3 appearances. He then joined Mallorca in 1999, initially on loan but made the move permanent the next season. He would go on to become Mallorca's all-time top goalscorer with 54 goals, was adored by the fans and returned the favour by donating €30,000 to the fans who had travelled to support their club for the 2003 Copa del Rey final against Recreativo de Huelva, which Mallorca won 3-0, thanks to Eto'o scoring two late goals.

Despite interest from former club Real Madrid, he then moved to arch-rivals Barcelona, where he won 3 La Liga titles, the 2008-09 Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de Espana and the UEFA Champions League twice. He won the historic treble of the League (La Liga), the Cup (Copa del Rey) and the European Cup (UEFA Champions League) in 2009 and departed for Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan due to difference with then Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola.

He then repeated his treble-winning success in his first season with Inter Milan as the swooped the Serie A and Super Coppa Italiana and won the Champions League defeating Bayern Munich in the final and former club Barcelona in the semifinal.

After leaving Inter in 2011, he became sort of a journeyman with spells in Russia, where he was the best-paid player on the planet, England with Chelsea and Everton, Italy and Turkey before finally hanging up his boots in 2018 following a brief spell in Qatar.