Elano misses Wigan trip
by Ben Blackmore, 29 November 2007
Sven Goran Eriksson delivered some worrying news for Manchester City fans on Thursday by revealing he does not know when Elano will return to the first team.
Elano has been one of the stars of City’s rise to third place in The Premier League, scoring five goals in all competitions so far.
The Brazil international picked up a hamstring problem during training though, and Eriksson has instantly ruled him out of the trip to Wigan.
Eriksson revealed Elano will now undergo scans to determine how long the creative midfielder will be out for.
“He is taking a scan this afternoon and we don’t know how long he is out for, but he is out for this game. It is a hamstring problem,” the Swede told City’s official website.
“That’s something we have to do of course. It’s a possibility for Geovanni as well.
“We thought until today that Elano would be available, but we know now that he won’t be available this weekend, unfortunately. That’s a pity of course.
“We know very well what Elano means to us in the last third of the pitch. He and maybe Petrov are involved in most of the goals we are scoring, but that’s life, we have to show we can play good football and make results without Elano.”
Meanwhile, Eriksson has revealed owner Thaksin Shinawatra "didn’t seem too shocked" when he handed in his Christmas shopping list.
Eriksson is determined to add yet more new faces to his City squad during the January transfer window, with Afonso Alves, Mark Bresciano, Peter Crouch and Nicolas Anelka just a selection of the names linked to the Eastlands club.
"Dr Thaksin has a very long list, but I've told him it will be shorter and shorter.
"He knows what we are thinking about and what we are talking about. He didn't seem to be too shocked - so that was good. He's been informed about everything we are thinking about maybe doing.”