Gifted Brazilian attacking midfielder Elano Blumer has been signed on as one of its marquee players by Team Chennai.
“I sometimes feel it’s still a dream. But it’s more exciting to live the dream. Elano is a great champion and he’ll add Samba magic to Team Chennai,” Prashant Agarwal, CEO of Kshatriya Sports, Chennaiyin FC’s technical partner, said from Milan.
“I feel happy that we have been able to convince the world and get the best players for ISL. But, so far, we were missing the Brazilian touch, and now that too has been taken care of.”
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The 33-year-old midfielder started his professional career with Santos FC before moving to Europe and play for Ukrainian powerhouse Shakhtar Donetsk from 2004-07.
Elano, then, was snapped up by Manchester City for a fee of £8m in August 2007, and played 62 games for the club, scoring 14 goals.
A favourite of current Brazilian coach Dunga (during his first stint with the national side between 2006-2010) Elano, capped 50 times, has scored nine international goals.
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The Brazilian last played on loan (from Gremio) for Flamengo earlier this year, but has been a free agent after his contract with Gremio was terminated by mutual consent on August 22, paving the way for him to sign for Team Chennai.
The team also came close to securing the services of former Italian international midfielder Massimo Ambrosini, but his reluctance to stay away from his young family for three months scuttled the move.