3 – Samuel Eto’o
When Samuel Eto’o joined joined Mourinho at Internazionale, he had been one of the best strikers in the world for several years. He had spent five years at Barcelona and won seven trophies, scoring 130 goals in the process.
Barcelona wanted to sign Zlatan Ibrahimović from Inter and Mourinho managed to mastermind a deal that not only saw Eto’o come in the other direction, but also ensured that Inter would receive €46m.
It was a fantastic piece of business, not only to receive such a large sum of money for your star player but also to have a world class striker thrown into the bargain.
Eto’o was a big success at Inter and helped them to achieve what Ibrahimović couldn’t – win the Champions League. In two years he scored 53 goals for the club and won six trophies.