Manchester City have made a £25 million offer for Samuel Eto’o, the Barcelona striker, according to Sky Sports News.

Joan Laporta, the Barcelona president, said that the “monster” deal will make the Cameroon striker the best-paid player in the world.

City will match Barcelona’s asking price of about £25 million for Eto’o and have agreed to pay the striker in the region of £200,000 a week, including bonuses, as the Premier League’s new financial superpower looks to deliver the global superstar that Sheikh Mansour, the club’s billionaire owner, craves.

Over the course of a four-year contract, the deal could be worth more than £66 million in total, with City hoping formally to conclude the extraordinary transfer before the squad flies to South Africa on July 15 for a pre-season tour.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal forward, will supersede Eto’o as the highest-paid player in the world once the annual 25 per cent increase on his £9.5 million-a-year salary at Real Madrid kicks in, but, for now, Eto’o would have no rival in the pay stakes.

“Eto’o has a stratospheric offer from City, which would convert him into the best-paid player in the world,” Laporta said. “It’s starting to become clear that he has this monster offer. He wants to stay but an offer like this is very difficult to refuse. If Eto’o accepts this stratospheric offer, we will have to bring someone in.”