Inter Milan coach Gian Piero Gasperini is confident the anticipated departure of Samuel Eto'o to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala will not weaken his side. The Cameroon international is set to complete his permanent transfer to Anzhi in the next few days. It's also expected that Eto'o will become the world's best-paid player, earning a reported €30m (£26.2m) a year.

Gasperini recognised the quality of Eto'o but backed his team to thrive even if he were to seal the move to Russia. He told the club's official website www.inter.it: "We all know how good the player is but I think this is a team that can also be set up differently, although obviously it's the strength of your attack that determines how good your team is.

"There are other valuable players in the team and we'll start building again with this group of champions. We'll try to get back the players who are out at the moment and we might be able to strengthen a little too. Certainly at the moment we're a bit short in certain areas, including midfield, considering how many games we'll have to play. But the club knows very well what to do. There are still 10 days left before the transfer window closes."

Eto'o scored 37 goals last season for Inter and was a key member of I Nerazzurri team that won the Serie A, UEFA Champions League and Coppa Italia treble in the 2009/10 campaign. The 30-year-old is under contract with Inter until June 2014 and is expected to sign a three-year deal with Anzhi.