Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva agrees £6m Shakhtar Donetsk switch after seal of approval from Croatia boss Slaven BilicEduardo da Silva will clinch a £6million move from Arsenal to Shakhtar Donetsk in the next 48 hours after taking advice from Croatia boss Slaven Bilic.The striker agreed terms for the move on Sunday after six days of negotiations and passed a medical in Monday under the supervision of Shakhtar chief medical officer Francisco Biosca.
Arsene Wenger had been reluctant to let the Brazil-born Croatia international leave, but Eduardo is understood to have been keen on the move after fearing for his place in the Frenchman's team.
The Ukrainians will match his current Arsenal wages and offer him Champions League football, and the 27-year-old was convinced it was the right move to make after talking to Bilic and Darijo Srna, the Croatia and Shakhtar captain.
Bilic said: 'I spoke with Eduardo. He was very pleased with the move to Shakhtar. He is going to a strong league. This season they will once again play in the Champions League, have many difficult matches and this is excellent for the national team.
'The captain of Shakhtar is Darijo Srna, in the team there are a lot of Brazilians - I have no doubt that Eduardo will quickly adapt to Donetsk.'
Eduardo's name was not on the list released by the club of twenty seven players who had travelled to Austria on Monday night for the Gunners' pre-season training camp
The forward has physically recovered from the shocking double leg break he suffered at Birmingham City in February 2008, but he has struggled to regain his form and hold down a starting place at Arsenal.
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu said: 'We wanted to buy Eduardo before he moved to Arsenal. Not everything went his way last season, but he is still a player of very high quality, a real marksman.
'Yes, he had a serious injury, we are aware of the risk, but at the same time we realise he can give a lot to Shakhtar. We expect a lot from Eduardo.'
Srna is believed to have played a key part in negotiations and he said: 'Eduardo is one of the best strikers in the world and, if there is an agreement, he will bring us many benefits.'
Croatia's Ognjen Vukojevic played alongside Eduardo at Dinamo Zagreb and will now line up against his international team-mate as a Dynamo Kiev midfielder.
'He called me to ask what it's like to live in Ukraine,' said Vukojevic. 'I replied: "Do not worry, you made the right choice".
'Now we will become great rivals. It is definitely a good move. At Shakhtar he will become the first-choice striker, get plenty of game time and return to his best condition.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1296174/Arsenals-Eduardo-da-Silva-agrees-6m-Shakhtar-Donetsk-deal-Croatia-boss-Slaven-Bilics-approval.html[ 本文被呀威在2010-07-20 19:34重新編輯 ]
