Wednesday 28 January 2015 17:33, UK
Gabriel Paulista has signed for Arsenal, as Arsene Wenger once again turns to a Brazilian in the transfer market.
We look at the best - and worst - of the club's previous Brazilian signings...
Sylvinho had enjoyed some success in his homeland with Corinthians before signing for Arsenal as a 25-year-old in 1999 and soon progressed to the Brazil national team. It wasn’t an easy task displacing long-time left-back Nigel Winterburn and his first season ended in disappointment with UEFA Cup final defeat to Galatasaray. But after an impressive effort against Sheffield Wednesday, Sylvinho soon developed a reputation for scoring spectacular goals with his brilliant strike against Chelsea coming in a run of three goals in consecutive games.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian, the emergence of Ashley Cole saw him lose his place in the team in the spring of 2001 and he moved to Celta Vigo at the end of this second season in England. There was to be plenty of glory in a later spell at Barcelona, however, picking up a Champions League winners’ medal as an unused substitute in the 2006 win over Arsenal before playing a full part in the club’s 2009 triumph. After finishing his career with Manchester City, he is now assistant manager to Roberto Mancini at Inter.
After enduring a slow start to his Arsenal career - passport issues, injury in his first start and an own goal in his second - the composed midfielder was certainly among the less heralded of Arsenal’s Invincibles squad, but his contribution was not insignificant. Indeed, it is often forgotten that Edu featured 29 times in the club’s unbeaten Premier League campaign that year. In fact, thanks to his frequent appearances off the substitute bench, he actually played in more games than Dennis Bergkamp in the 2003/04 league season.
An astute distributor of the ball with his trusty left boot, Edu broke into the Brazil national team during the latter years of his time at Arsenal and the period coincided with some of their most successful times. Edu won two Premier League titles and three FA Cup games before moving to Valencia in 2005. As Wenger had said a year earlier: “He is a valuable member to the team, and scores some vital goals from midfield.”
Gilberto Silva began his career as a centre-back so was an unlikely figure in the centre of Brazil’s midfield but an injury to Emerson gave him his chance at the 2002 World Cup and he seized it by playing an active part in their victory and impressing sufficiently to earn himself a move from Atletico Mineiro to Arsenal. He might not have been the most flamboyant of performers but was always quick to take responsibility and dovetailed well with Patrick Vieira in the club’s formidable 2003/04 season.
He added an FA Cup in 2005, helped Arsenal to the final of the Champions League and remains a favourite of his old manager. “He is, for me, class,” Wenger told the Guardian last year. “Modesty, humility, on a human front a top-class person. He was ready to sacrifice himself for the team. You need that screen player in front of the defence who is ready to do the dark and dirty work for other people.” After winning 93 caps for Brazil, Gilberto Silva finished his career where it all started at Atletico Mineiro.
After a lengthy pursuit by Arsene Wenger, the man they called ‘The Beast’ joined Arsenal on a season-long loan from Real Madrid with Jose Antonio Reyes moving in the other direction. Baptista had a good reputation in Spain having scored 38 goals in 63 games for Sevilla, earning him a move to Real Madrid. While he had not quite had the same impact in the Spanish capital – scoring eight La Liga goals in his first season – it wasn’t easy to star among the Galacticos and he arrived at Arsenal with big expectations.
As a result, a return of three goals in 24 Premier League appearances was hugely disappointing. In fact, Baptista actually scored more in one League Cup game – netting four times against Liverpool – than in the league season and returned to Real upon the completion of his loan deal. There was some success in his second spell in Madrid, including the winner at Barcelona in the club’s title-winning campaign, and he also starred briefly for Roma and Malaga before returning to Brazil to play for Cruzeiro.
The understated midfielder made more than 150 appearances for Arsenal in a five-year stay during which time his metronomic passing won him the admiration of Wenger but occasionally left others unconvinced by his contribution. Speaking in 2009, Wenger was baffled by the perception. “I am surprised by two things – by how well he has done and how little credit he gets from the media,” said Wenger. “I don’t think many people have gone down and deeply analysed his game. If you analyse it a little bit in a deeper way, that means the ground he covers, how much ball he wins, how quickly he passes the ball, where his balls go, you will be quite surprised.”
Perhaps Denilson was a little unfortunate in that his emergence coincided with Arsenal’s lean spell following a period of consistent success during Wenger’s first decade at the club. The Gunners boss eventually abandoned hopes that the midfielder would progress sufficiently, allowing him to return to Sao Paulo. Even so, it seems the two men remain on good terms with Denilson telling his new club upon arrival that Wenger was “arguably the person who most trusted and invested in me - he always treated me like a son”.
Signed on deadline day in 2011 with Wenger under pressure to bolster the squad, Andre Santos endured a difficult time of it in England with his mere presence in the team often perceived as evidence that standards at the club had slipped. In particular, he became a target when swapping shirts with former Arsenal man Robin van Persie at half-time following a miserable performance against Manchester United.
The left-back was shipped out soon afterwards on loan to Gremio after making only 23 Premier League appearances, but the man himself points to fitness issues as an explanation for his struggles. “When I was there I got very bad injuries, but in my whole career I never had so many injuries,” he said. He is now back at Figueirense, the club where he started his career.
