Eto'o joins Mallorca for £4.4m

Eto'o is a big hit with the Mallorca fans

Cameroon international striker Samuel Eto'o has moved to Real Mallorca from Spanish giants Real Madrid for a club record fee of $6.3m (£4.4m).

Eto'o, 21, will remain on familiar territory, having played for the Balearic island side for the last two seasons on loan from Real.

It brings to an end a frustrating battle to break through with Madrid - Eto'o played only three times since joining their nursery team in 1996.

After a spell on loan at second division Leganes in 1997/98, Eto'o found a way out of his frustration with a good two seasons at Mallorca, breaking into double figures last time.

I doubt if there is any other player in the world who would please the fans more at this moment

  Mallorca president Mateo Alemany

That was despite being involved in most of Cameroon's World Cup qualifiers and helping them to Olympic gold in Sydney last September, to add to his African Nations Cup success the previous January.

Huge buy-out clause

Eto'o has signed a six-year contract which includes a phenomenal $105.1m (£73.6m) buy-out clause.

Peculiar to the Spanish league, this fee is the amount a club must pay to take Eto'o from Mallorca, unless the club decide to negotiate.

Mallorca president Mateo Alemany said that the Cameroon striker, who was the club's top scorer last season with 11 goals, was a player all the fans wanted to see stay at the club.

"I doubt if there is any other player in the world who would please the fans more at this moment," he said.

Mallorca, who finished third in the Spanish first division last season, open their Champions League qualifying campaign with a match against the winner of the tie between Ferencvaros of Hungary and Croatia's Hadjuk Split on August 7-8.