Eto'o could leave Everton, admits Martinez

Everton manager Martinez dismissed talk of Eto'o being on the verge of joining Serie A club Sampdoria as speculation on Monday.

The former Cameroon international was then left out of the Merseyside club's squad for Tuesday's FA Cup third round defeat at West Ham.

Sampdoria continue to be linked with a move for the 33-year-old frontman and the Seattle Sounders are also reported to be keen to take him to Major League Soccer.

Martinez confirmed after Everton's FA Cup exit that Eto'o is in demand, but has not decided whether to allow him to leave Goodison Park.

The Spaniard said: "With Samuel, we have a really good relationship and we are looking at his situation.

"We had a couple of clubs contact us in the last 12 hours so I decided it was better now to leave him out of the squad and allow us a different focus in the group.

"We will decide [in the] next few days the next step. He's been fantastic for us, we've got a really good relationship and we will see what's [the] next best step for both [parties]."

Eto'o joined Everton on a two-year contract in August after his contract with Chelsea expired.