YAOUNDE, Cameroon -- Cameroon striker Samuel Eto`o, sidelined since September with a knee injury, has pledged to return to the Barcelona side at the end of next week, and is still aiming to finish the season as the Primera Liga`s top scorer.
"What I want, what I`m looking forward to, is Sunday January 14, when I will put on the Barca jersey again," he told a media conference in Cameroon`s capital Yaounde.
"I had wanted to resume duty with the Indomitable Lions (Cameroon`s national team) but I can`t afford to wait until March," he added.
Cameroon are scheduled to play their next African Nations Cup qualifying game against Liberia in March.
Eto`o injured his
right knee during Barcelona`s Champions League match against Werder Bremen last September.
A Barcelona doctor initially estimated the injury would keep him out for two to three months but after an operation he extended the estimate to five months.
Eto`o said: "I am determined to be the leading scorer this season in Spain. The gap between me and others is not much. With hard work, personal sacrifice, I can catch up. I will catch up."
He has four league goals, 10 behind current leader Frederic Kanoute of Sevilla.
Eto`o was voted African Footballer of the Year three times in a row and is in line for an unprecedented fourth successive award after being named as a finalist for 2006.
