The greatest player in Fantasy League history has left the building and Arsenal have replaced him with a Brazilian, turned Croatian, with a penchant for a bad moustache. Time to move your Fantasy funds from the Emirates? I wouldn’t bank on it. Read my latest Scout Report for the facts and unfounded predictions surrounding Wenger’s new Croation-could-be-sensation…

Eduardo Da Silva has arrived in England to replace arguably the greatest player the Premiership has ever seen and yet, everywhere you read an opinion about “Dudu” Da Silva, you see the claims that he is exactly the player that Arsenal needed. Phrases like “goal-poacher”, “fox in the box”, “natural finisher” are littered about various pieces written about Arsenal’s new Brazilian-born striker. Behind such claims is a playing record that is undeniable. If 73 goals in 104 starts for Dynamo Zagreb tells the story, 34 goals in 32 games last season, breaking the all-time Croatian scoring record, sits you down and shouts it in your face. However, who could forget (certainly not Spurs fans) that this is a goal record earned in the Croatian League, a League which Zagreb dominate and where time, space and goal opportunities are delivered in far more generous portions than anything on the Premiership menu. Fantasy Football Managers have a right to be sceptical before taking the gamble then, but in the back of my mind I can’t help but think that Wenger’s not a man who takes huge risks. If he sees a 20-goal Premiership striker then there’s a very good chance that’s exactly what Eduardo is.

Born in Rio but with Croatian citizenship and caps to his name, Eduardo gave a glimpse of his goalscoring prowess by looping a header over a hapless Robinson in England’s Euro 2008 qualifier defeat in 2006. That was his first international goal, he’s since scored 7 more in 14 national team appearances. Earlier that year he’d brought himself to the forefront of his new manager’s mind by having the cheek to register the first competitive goal at the Emirates in Arsenals’ Champions League victory over Zagreb. The bigger stage then, is not something that intimidates the 24-year old.

Among his attributes are pace of course, a pre-requisite for the Premiership it seems. Tight control, a few tricks and a sweet left-foot with the guile and composure to finish a goal-scoring opportunity with unerring ease. He also has vision and can make goals, his rate of assists may not rival Berbatov but he’s no McCarthy either, and can even be employed as a left-sided winger if need be. In this Arsenal side then you can expect a good proportion of assists to accompany his goal tally. YouTube is reliable as ever as a source of footage, although you won’t find too many examples of the spectacular. If you like watching instinctive finishing and tap in’s, then knock yourself out with the footage below. For Arsenal fans, such footage is almost football porn given the lack of such goal poaching at the Emirates last season. Scrappy will certainly do for Gunners fans.

Whether Dudu can translate his skills and replicate such goals to bring success in Fantasy terms will largely be decided by his role. We’ll know more about this in the next month when friendly matches ramp up to the point where the veil on starting lineup is peeled back. There’s also the small matter of whether Wenger pursues other striking targets – Martins at Newcastle for example. Wenger did describe his new signing as “adaptable”, a hint that perhaps his role is less than cut and dry. However, sticking my neck out from my precautious pre-season vantage point, I envisage that Dudu will get at least 25 appearances with Adebayor as his partner and perhaps Van Persie employed in a wider position. My reasoning? Simply that this guy has been bought to put the ball in the net, nothing more. Arsenal already have the players to embroider patterns around the box – Eduardo has arrived to put a clinical end to them.

Regardless of Van Persie’s sparkling run prior to injury last season and the emergence of Adebayor as a true Premiership player, the actual process of putting the ball in the net, especially from 4 yards via a knee or backside, is not a strength either of them are renowned for. That is, after all, why Eduardo is described as the player Arsenal needed. That’s also why I predict Wenger will put faith in his investment and hand him a good number of Premiership starts.

If that proves to be the case, 25 appearances in an Arsenal side that creates anything close to the same number of opportunities as last season, would hand him the licence to fire at least a dozen goals. You can add penalties to that too. Arsenal won more of those than any other side last season and Eduardo is renowned for his expertise from the spot . As a sidenote, this is set to have a knock-on effect to Gilberto’s Fantasy return this year, so consider this in mind if you had the Arsenal skipper shortlisted with another 5 goals form penalties in mind – they’re not likely to materialise if Eduardo is a fixture.

Talk of 20 goals at this stage is just pure speculation then, but could be backed up by fact to some degree once the friendlies and maybe a handful of Premiership matches have passed. The best course of action then, is simply to wait and see and reserve him as an early transfer. However, the opportunity to jump aboard and earn the chance to brag “I told you so” to your entire mini-league is hard to resist. Give in to this temptation and, like with all new foreign arrivals to the Premiership, you’re taking a gamble that could see you hold on to him for 10 games while he beds in, only to get rid as he settles and starts firing the goals. The only difference here as I see it, is that Eduardo looks less than a gamble than most. His price could well vary considerably from game to game.

With just a couple of Fantasy Games up and running as I write this, judging what’s at stake in this gamble is a difficult call. The Telegraph’s valuation of 5.7 offers some room to experiment. Da Silva as he is labelled in this game, can be brought in as a second string forward, a back up to Drogba, Rooney or Berbatov maybe – a decent proposition, particularly if you’re entering more than one team. In the Fantasy Premier League game it’s a different story. The ranking as a £9 million striker puts Eduardo in the same bracket as McCarthy and half a million more expensive than Anelka – a bigger gamble then. As I mentioned, the best course is to wait and see but prepare an early transfer accordingly. Sign a proven Forward in the same bracket you can rely on (McCarthy is ideal), therefore easing the process of swapping your forward line should Eduardo should he begin to produce the spectacular goals haul his record hints at. I for one, am willing to back Wenger, but even with that confidence, I’m going to reserve judgement and wait a few weeks before I consider drafting him into my side.