Madrid  - The fans of European champions Barcelona have mixed feelings about the imminent departure of Samuel Eto'o, according to online polls on Tuesday.

Barca are trying to swap Eto'o for Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, plus around 40 million euros (56.76 million dollars) and the loan of Alexander Hleb for one season.

Josep Maria Mesalles, the agent of Eto'o, started to negotiate on Monday a lucrative contract for the Cameroon striker with Inter, apparently asking for a salary of 12 million euros per season over five years.

Meanwhile, back in Barcelona, the fans seem to have mixed feelings about seeing Eto'o leave.

On Monday Barca coach Josep Guardiola returned from holiday and said that "I am convinced that the best thing for Barca is that Eto'o leaves."

He tried to explain by saying that "this is not for football reasons... it is a question of feeling... This is not for reasons of behaviour. I am not here to change the character of anyone, but instead to decide with which players to count on for next season."

Guardiola added that he was "very grateful towards Eto'o, not just for last season but for what he has done in five years (at the club)".

He refused to talk about Ibrahimovic, saying that "he is still an Inter player." However, it is common knowledge that Guardiola has been interested in the Swedish hitman since taking over at Barca in 2008.

Guardiola has sufficient credit at the Camp Nou, after guiding Barca to an unprecedented "treble" last season, that he will manage to get away with offloading Eto'o.

However, online polls taken by Mundo Deportivo and Sport show, on Tuesday, that the Barca fans have mixed feelings about seeing Eto'o leave.

Mundo Deportivo asks its readers, most of whom are Barca fans, "Do you share Guardiola's arguments about Eto'o?" Only 51 per cent of readers have voted "yes", 49 per cent of them opting for "no".

Rival daily Sport, for its part, asks "Are you convinced by Guardiola's explanations about the departure of Eto'o?" Only 56 per cent of readers have voted "yes", which suggests that many Barca fans are not pleased to see the back of the fiery African.

Eto'o, 28, is the third highest goalscorer in Barca history with 121 goals in all competitions, behind 1950s legends Cesar and Ladislas Kubala - who wore the famous red-and-blue stripes for much longer than the Cameroonian.

He joined Barca from Mallorca in 2004, after Real Madrid president Florentino Perez had controversially declined to take him back to the Estadio Bernabeu. Perez reportedly said that Eto'o would be a "timebomb".

Eto'o's goals have helped Barca to win three Spanish Ligas, two Champions Leagues - he scored crucial goals in the 2006 and 2009 finals - and one Spanish Cup.

On the negative side, he had an infamous public outburst in February 2007 against team-mate Ronaldinho and coach Frank Rijkaard.

When Guardiola took over from Rijkaard in June 2008 he offloaded Ronaldinho and Deco, and tried to do the same with Eto'o. However, no serious offer for him was received so he stayed - and scored 35 goals. (dpa)