Man City have confirmed the signing of Brazil striker Jo from CSKA Moscow for an undisclosed fee – believed to be a new club record of £19 million.
Jo, full name João Alves de Assis Silva, arrives with a superb record at the Russian club having scored 44 goals in 77 matches in all competitions. CSKA signed the striker in 2005 for a fee of £3.5 from Brazilian club Corinthian where he lined up with the likes of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. His impact at CSKA was immediate, scoring 14 goals in his first 18 games for the club.
A towering 6 foot 3 inch figure, Jo has the appearance of an awkward target man but he is in fact anything but. Despite his size he is described as “average” in the air but “skillful, strong and pacey”. Jo much prefers the role of supporting striker, dropping deep and playing in the hole than as a traditional centre forward that leads the line.
A first capture for Mark Hughes, the new boss at Eastlands was understandably delighted with the acquisition.
“He’s a big guy, in stature and in ability, so I think everybody will enjoy watching him play,” remarked the City boss.
It’s interesting however that Jo has been a target for City long before the arrival of Hughes. Given that owner Thaksin Shinawatra was looking to conduct the deal whilst Sven was still in charge, it seems unlikely that Hughes has had major input in the deal. Now however, the City boss finds himself with a brand new striker who has a style of play that Hughes will have to accommodate around his existing squad and new arrivals.
With Elano already at the club and Ronaldihno a target, it would appear that City are likely to look to Jo to provide the cutting edge up front rather than to adopt a deeper role. That’s just pure speculation but it will certainly be interesting to see how Hughes utilises his new £19 million striker. One thing is for sure, Mr Shinawatra will expect him to be handed plenty of starts.
At just 21, Jo is certainly an exciting prospect but, given the huge transfer fee and distinct style of play, there are understandably some reservations. Interestingly, in contrast to his record at CSKA, Jo made 85 appearances for Corinthian but scored just 13 goals playing a deeper attacking role. Despite his goal-a-game transformation in the Russian league, there will be question marks about just how this record will translate to the Premiership.
From the video evidence kindly supplied by YouTube below, there’s no doubting his goalscoring ability. He has a tall, lanky frame but certainly looks powerful enough to handle anything that Russian league defenders can dish out. Whether that will be the case in the Premiership is another matter and, looking at some of the goals, it’s hard to imagine him enjoying some of the space that is evident in the footage.
Like all new foreign arrivals, the best tactic for fantasy managers is always “wait and see”. In my opinion, that advice rings doubly true with City’s new record signing.