Thursday Aug 02 2007 16:55
Arsenal have confirmed that the Brazilian-born Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva has been granted his work permit and is now officially a
Gunners player.
The 24-year-old had to endure an appeal hearing at the Home Office on Thursday before being handed the permit.
Meanwhile, Croatia boss Slaven Bilic expects Eduardo to be a big hit in England.
He said: "He is one of them. He looks straight away like he belongs there.
"I'm sure that Arsenal are going to be delighted with him. A wonderful player, a wonderful man. The guy is unbelievable.
"Last year he scored 54 goals in all competitions for Dinamo Zagreb and for the national team.
"I know some people think he is just a goalscorer and he is a goalscorer but not like someone like [Filippo] Inzaghi. His game doesn't depend on scoring goals.
"He came to Croatia when he was 16 and all the people in Croatia treat him as a 100 per cent Croatian. Remember he was a captain of Dinamo Zagreb. You cannot be captain of such a big club if you are not considered Croatian.
"You can't not love him. He is an unbelievable guy. It's such a great thing for the Croatian League, for Eduardo and the national team and everybody in Croatia."
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