Elano departs

Manchester City can confirm that Elano has completed his transfer to Turkish side Galatasaray.

The Brazilian joined the Blues from Shakhtar Donetsk having been signed by Sven-Goran Eriksson just before the start of the 2007/08 season. He had an immediate impact with both goals and a string of influential performances.

Elano found the going a lot tougher as opponents increasingly targeted him as one of City's main threats, but despite more limited appearances under boss Mark Hughes he still scored 18 times in a total of 80 appearances for City.

He joined the famous Istanabul club last night and everyone at Manchester City would like to thank Elano for his services and wish him the very best of luck for the future with both his new club and with Brazil.

>>mcfc.co.uk

One that is sure to divide opinion.

There has been rumour around Elano's future for a little while, but the confirmation of the move (and to Galatasary) came a little out of nowhere and certainly speedier than some of the more protracted incoming moves.

In a lot of respects it is a shame that Elano has gone. Undoubtedly a wonderful talent, he leaves us with some fantastic memories of his abilities and it is another example (in a long line throughout history) of function and endeavour triumphing over style. Personally I think there would still be a role for him in the squad over the course of the season, but experience tells that he Elano is not the patient kind.

Let us not kid ourselves totally though. As sublime as Elano could be, over his two seasons there were large pockets of the season where he was unproductive and contributed little, even looking disinterested. Some would argue that this was mainly the return from the second half of the 2007/08 season onwards.

Logic does dictate that it is a sensible move therefore. Looking at our likely line-up, Elano would not feature in the strongest starting XI (and would anyone truthfully suggest otherwise?) given we are likely to have a three featuring Barry, Ireland and a holding player. Elano on the sidelines as we saw is not condusive to the 'team ethic' and no way did Mark Hughes want him around as a distraction if for the majority of time he would be kicking his heels.

As we are progressing towards the vision of where Hughes wants the squad to be (both in terms of success and the make-up of the team), there are going to be casualties along the way. It is disappointing when they are players such as Elano, capable of providing wonderful moments on a football pitch, but perhaps ultimately, nostalgia will make his loss appear greater than it is actually is.