Tensions at Levante surrounding Etta Eyong

Valencia, Spain – With barely hours remaining before the winter transfer window slams shut, Levante UD’s dressing room has become a pressure cooker, and the focal point is 22-year-old Cameroonian striker Etta Eyong.

Eyong, the club’s leading scorer this season with six goals and three assists, was left out of the starting XI for Sunday’s league visit to Villarreal CF after club officials instructed the coaching staff to keep him on the bench, according to journalist Ben Jacobs. The omission follows Eyong’s rejection of a lucrative move to CSKA Moscow, even though the Russian giants tabled a bid in excess of €30 million that Levante’s hierarchy accepted.

Sources close to the player say Eyong’s reluctance to head east is twofold: sporting ambitions and the current sporting-political climate that has seen Russian sides frozen out of European competitions. The striker, who has attracted admiring glances from FC Barcelona as well as Premier League duo Fulham FC and Everton FC, believes a transfer to Moscow would stall his development at a critical stage of his career.

Barcelona, long-time admirers of Eyong’s pace and finishing ability, have now elected to postpone any formal approach until the summer window, placing the ball firmly back in Levante’s court. Meanwhile, Fulham and Everton continue to monitor developments, ready to pounce should the situation deteriorate further.

Levante, anxious to bank a record fee, find themselves in a standoff with their most valuable asset, while fans brace for the fallout from a saga that could yet shape the club’s season. As the clock ticks toward Monday night’s deadline, the question remains: will Levante risk keeping an unhappy star, or will a last-minute compromise send Eyong packing to a destination more palatable than Moscow?