Sven-Goran Eriksson is worried that his secret weapon has finally
blown his cover.
Despite being relatively unknown to fans in this country, Brazil
international Elano cost the Blues the best part of a £8m to prise
away from Ukraine's Champions League hopefuls Shakhtar
Donetsk.
Had it not been for Eriksson's persuasive tongue and Elano's desire
to prove himself on a bigger domestic stage, the silky skilled
schemer might have this week downing Glasgow Celtic instead of
Aston Villa.
And the Blues boss can still, try as he may, hardly conceal his joy
at persuading the master lock-picker to make the journey to
England.
"Elano has done very well for us so far and the great thing about
him is that when he has the ball you know that something is going
to happen," said Eriksson
"I don't like speaking too much about him because it is good that
the opposition know as little as possible about him. He is one of
those players who says `the ball is mine'. He knows how to control
it and when he is in possession as a manager you know something
will almost certainly happen."