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Goodbye Eduardo, Hello Austria!

By on July 21, 2010

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Today Arsenal take on Sturm Graz in what will be the first-team’s second preseason match following the 4-nil victory at Barnet last weekend. However, at least here at Arsenal Station, the optimism and hope for the new season takes a slight backseat as Shakhtar Donetsk confirm that they have bought Eduardo for £6.2m.

Of course, it’s not totally unexpected as the rumors have been flying for weeks now. Nevertheless, it is a bit of a sad moment. Eduardo came to the club in the summer of 2007 and, though he didn’t walk right into the starting XI, many of us believed he had the potential to be a great Premier League striker. He was technical, creative, and, most importantly, he was a clinical finisher. By the turn of the New Year, Eduardo was getting regular minutes in the starting XI of a side that at one point was five points clear at the top of the table. And we all know what happened next…

It took him a year to come back from that horrific injury, but, when he did, he came back in style including that fantastic goal in the FA Cup in January 2009. But, the long layoff opened him up to more niggling injuries and he was never able to get a real run of the games. Fast forward to last season.. Eduardo came out strong, like the rest of the side. And we all know what happened next…

Despite these patches of form and flashes of his former brilliance, Eduardo never seemed to fully recover mentally from that dreadful day at Birmingham. And now, with Carlos Vela and new signing Marouane Chamakh, the time was right for Eduardo to move on and get another shot at rejuvenating his successful international career with Croatia.

It’s sad to think what could have been if Birmingham hadn’t happened or, even, if Celtic Park hadn’t happened. Eduardo always seemed like a really nice guy and no teammate has ever had a bad thing to say about him. Yet, whether it was on the pitch or in the media, he was desperately unlucky. Arsenal Station wishes Eduardo all the best with his new club.

OTHER NEWS

Those senior reserve players Arsenal left behind, including Mark Randall, Jay Simpson, and Nacer Barazite, took part in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Crawley Town last night. Young Guns reports they “are available for a transfer should a suitable offer arrive.” While many Arsenal fans seem to rate Jay Simpson highly, I just cannot understand what has gone wrong with Barazite. He was never given as many Carling Cup opportunities as other less talented and less proven youth players.

More tomorrow…

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