January 16 – Edu Eventually Ends Up at Arsenal

DODGY passports, immigration control and a legal wrangling that was the Tevez affair of it’s day. Who’d have thought Arsene Wenger’s pursuit of Edu would’ve been so eventful? Either way, the Arsenal boss got his man today in 2001 as the Brazilian midfielder signed for the Gunners.

With Wenger’s emphasis on what Edu’s most famous countryman dubbed ‘the beautiful game’ it was only a matter of time before he looked to Brazil for his inspiration.

After the Arsenal scouting network spotted Edu, or Eduardo Daude Gaspar as his mother calls him, winning the 2000 World Club Championship at Brazilian giants Corinthians they tabled a bid of £6m which was accepted in July that year.

Edu then hopped on a plane to Heathrow to meet up with his new team-mates, but once he touched down in the country custom officials had other ideas, as it turned out the midfielder was trying to blag his way into Europe on a forged Portuguese passport.

Next came the excuses, as Edu said: “I don’t know what happened. I arrived here and the people said I could not come in. I’m going back to Brazil to sort out the problem. I was told I did not need a visa.”

Arsenal themselves kept quiet on whether or not they had carried out any background checks on their new signing as they waited to see if Edu would be granted a work permit. As all fans of Football Manager know, this can be one of the more annoying things in football.

Eventually after six months of legal fun and games Edu qualified for a EU passport as Italian lineage was found on his father’s side of the family and the Gunners could complete the signing.

Things didn’t get much better for Edu as he only lasted 15 minutes on his debut before injury forced him off against Leicester City and played only four games in his first season.

He would soon become an integral part of Wenger’s team and played a crucial role in the 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ as the Gunners played some of the best football seen in this country for decades and went unbeaten in the Premier League on their way to the title.

During this time rumours appeared the Edu was about to pull on the Three Lions’ shirt as gained British citizenship, but the Selecao quickly called him up to their squad for the Copa America in 2004.

Edu left Arsenal at the end of the 2004/05 season, signing for Valencia on a Bosman free transfer, where he has struggled with injuries but, if you believe what you read in the papers, he might be headed back to these shores in the January transfer window.

Sadly we don’t have footage of Edu’s face when he was told to sling his hook by passport control, so you’ll have to make do with some action from Arsenal’s unbeaten season instead. For some more bureaucratic bumbling that took place today click here and like a daft Manchester City transfer rumour we’ll be back tomorrow so see you then.