“GILBERTO SILVA INVITED ME OVER FOR CHRISTMAS, BUT I DIDN’T GO. I LOCKED MYSELF AT HOME, ALONE”
How did your move to Arsenal come about?
The first time I heard about their interest was at the 2005 Under-17 World Cup. I couldn’t have been happier, as I’d just been promoted to Sao Paulo’s senior team, too. Arsenal were actually after another Brazilian player called Ramon, who was at Atletico Mineiro. They’d got him flight tickets to London, but dropped out because of his off-pitch antics, I believe. Arsene Wenger used to say that if you didn’t have discipline, you wouldn’t play for him. He watched Brazil’s games [the Selecao reached the final in Peru] and then picked me. Bayer Leverkusen also spoke to my entourage, but once they’d told me Arsenal were interested, I had no doubts. It was a dream come true.
What was it like when you first arrived?
