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LONDON - MYSTERY and Eduardo da Silva go hand in hand. Even he did not know he was an Arsenal player until the deal was done.
Instead, it was the striker's agent who wrapped up his £8 million (S$24.5 million) move from Dinamo Zagreb.
The Brazil-born da Silva could not have bigger boots to fill - that of former Premiership top scorer Thierry Henry, who has quit Arsenal for Barcelona.
But Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has no doubt that manager Arsene Wenger has picked up a 24-year-old gem.
'This forward is better than some we have been linked with,' he told The Daily Mail.
What will excite Arsenal fans even more is the glowing report from Slaven Bilic, da Silva's coach in his adopted country Croatia.
Said Bilic: 'He's a brilliant striker and a complete player. He's going to be amazing for Arsenal. He's a goal-scorer, but his game does not just depend on scoring goals.
'He's a team player and he opens up space for others. There will be big pressure on him - but he got used to that in Croatia.'
Dudu, as he is known, was watched 40 times by Arsenal's scouts last season.
And he knows how to score against English teams. He got the first goal with a looping header when Croatia beat England 2-0 in their Euro 2008 qualifier last October.
He already has six goals in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.
With Croatia three points clear of England in Group E, he has done as much as anyone to dent Steve McClaren's hopes of leading the national team to the Finals in Austria and Switzerland next summer.
His international record of seven goals in 12 games backs up a phenomenal return of 73 strikes in 104 games at club level, one of which created history at the Emirates Stadium last August.
His goal was the first scored in European competition at Arsenal's new home.
Dinamo lost 1-6, but Wenger noticed da Silva.
Over the past year, he has broken a 13-year record for the Croatian firjst division with 34 goals in 32 games.
Da Silva is, perhaps, not the sort of name that Arsenal fans may have been expecting when Wenger said he would bring in a 'maximum of two super-class' players.
But he is the type of poacher who could address the one significant flaw in an Arsenal team who create chances but fail to put the ball in the net often enough, reported The Times.
'I'm happy but, at the same time, also sad to be leaving Dinamo. But I am proud to be joining Arsenal,' said da Silva, who moved from Brazil to Croatia at 15 to pursue his dream of playing for Dinamo.
Such was his desire to succeed that he kept quiet about a fractured foot to play and secure a contract.
Wenger will also try to complete the signing of Auxerre defender Bakari Sagna this week for about £6.2 million.
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