Eduardo open to Premier League return

Shakhtar Donetsk striker Eduardo has revealed he would be open to the possibility of returning to the English Premier League one day.

The Croatia forward joined Arsenal in 2007 and enjoyed a productive start to his career in north London before suffering a horrific leg break during a game against Birmingham City.

That injury effectively cut short Eduardo’s career in England – after Arsene Wenger decided to cut his losses by selling the forward to Shakhtar – but he now says he would be willing to listen to offers from Premier League clubs.

“At the moment I still have two years left of my contract with Shakhtar Donetsk and from all I hear from the club they are really happy with me, which is very important,” Eduardo told Goal.com.

“But you never know. If a club back in England is interested, and I get a good offer then, well you never know. It would nice to be back one day.”

Eduardo, 29, also spoke about the extent to which the fibula break suffered in 2008 has affected his body, underlining the numerous fitness issues which have plagued his career.

“Now I am all right. I stopped for 10 months to recover from that leg and ankle break. But for almost two seasons after that, for about a year and a half, I suffered with a lot of muscle problems every time I played two or three games consecutively,” Eduardo said.

“Now, thankfully, that is all behind me. Ever since I joined Shakhtar I have been OK. I only had one injury problem but it was not a big thing.

“My body is now totally adapted to playing games just like it was before that injury.”

The Brazil-born forward was part of Slaven Bilic’s squad for Euro 2012 as they saw their dreams ended by a 1-0 defeat to Spain in the final group game on Monday.

However, despite that disappointment, Eduardo is now fully focused on beginning pre-season training with Shakhtar.

“I have very little time. I am now on holiday. But the problem is that last week Shakhtar began pre-season training. So for me that means I only have about 10 days, or at maximum 15 days, off before I am back again,” Eduardo said.

“We are straight through into the groups (of the Champions League). This is going to be very important for us. So we need to have more time to prepare well for the coming season.”