The Shakhtar Donetsk forward is still a devotee of the Wenger way – but he will do Arsenal no favours when they meet in the Champions League this week

Think of Eduardo da Silva, and it is impossible not to think of the incident at St Andrew's in February 2008, when a foul by Martin Taylor left his foot hanging limp from his leg, the ankle dislocated and the shinbone broken. That injury defines his time in England but, as he tries to rebuild his career with Shakhtar Donetsk, who face his former club Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday, he seems to feel remarkably little bitterness about his time in the Premier League.

His injury was just one of a number of horrific recent leg breaks – Aaron Ramsey, Antonio Valencia, Hatem Ben Arfa – to afflict Premier League players, but he does not think the pace or aggression of British football is at fault (Valencia suffered his in the Champions League but against Rangers). "I don't blame English football for my injury," he says. "It could have happened not just in England but in any match anywhere. Football has become much more physically intense all over the world. For example, recently in the Ukraine league a defender from Obolon broke the leg of my team-mate Fernandinho in almost the same way mine was broken against Birmingham."

His overwhelming attitude towards Arsenal – to fans, to team-mates and to Arsène Wenger – is one of great affection. "It's a club with a phenomenal stadium," Eduardo says. "They have great support, fantastic players and always aim for top honours. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Arsène Wenger, with whom I got on extremely well. He was good to me right to the end of my days at the club. I'll always have good memories of Arsenal."

The recent criticism Wenger has received baffles him and, like all the devout, Eduardo seems to regard the five years without a trophy as almost an irrelevance, a brief but inconsequential spell in the wilderness before the days of glory arrive. "Arsenal fans occupy every seat at the Emirates in every game the club plays," he says. "They like to see beautiful speedy one-touch football as mastered by Wenger. He told us to enjoy football, to figure out attacking combinations. I think that's the future of football and sooner or later the long-waited trophies will arrive."

Shakhtar's style is not dissimilar, and their coach, Mircea Lucescu, is a purist in the Wenger mould. He too is heavily influenced by the Dutch sides of the 1970s, believes in the rapid transfer of the ball and prefers to work with younger players, reasoning they are both more biddable and less prone to fear. "He's very good at motivating us, but he's considerate," Eduardo says. "He immediately put me at ease, telling me to concentrate on doing the things I know best. The two teams don't play the same tactical system, but Arsenal and Shakhtar both have coaches who are very ambitious, like to teach the youngsters and play inventive attacking football. I have to say that Lucescu's training sessions are harder and more demanding than the ones I had at Arsenal but on the other hand the games are definitely less intense than in England."

This now, he hopes, is the final stage of his rehabilitation. He is 27 and should just be reaching his peak. "For me the most important thing now is regular playing practice in the Ukraine championship and in the Champions League," he says. "This first season will be the most difficult as I need time to adapt myself to the requirements of the new team and the new league. But I was always sure I'd be able to continue my football career. Of course I was tormented into pieces after learning what kind of injury I'd suffered. But without the support of the doctors, Arsenal and my relatives the recovery process could have taken a much longer time."

Settling in Ukraine has been relatively simple, a process aided by the fact that six of the squad are Brazilian, and Eduardo is already good friends with Shakhtar's right-back and captain Dario Srna, his team-mate for Croatia and the man who persuaded him to make the move east. "It's very helpful to see a lot of my countrymen here, plus Marcelo Moreno whose father is Brazilian. I can speak my native language with them, while with the others I speak English. And this Russian language has something in common with Croatian and I can understand it if they speak slowly. But above all, Dario Srna is helping me with all the routine things."

Eduardo's involvement has been patchy so far this season. Although he has played some part in 10 matches in all competitions for the Ukrainian league leaders, he is yet to play more than 57 minutes, which is less of a comment on him than it is on how well Luiz Adriano has been playing as Shakhtar's lone centre-forward. Eduardo is realistic enough to know his main role on Tuesday may be supplying Lucescu with inside information on Arsenal.

"We've talked a bit about the forthcoming games," he says. "I said that we can surprise Arsenal in the same way Olympiakos did last season by beating them 1-0. We both believe that Shakhtar, with our enormous home support, can defeat them, while in London the task will be much harder. I haven't talked to my former team-mates since the draw, but I've already decided that I'll swap my shirt with the No4 of Cesc Fábregas in London and with the No11 of my good friend Denílson in Donetsk. Even before the draw was made, I dreamed of playing against Arsenal, meeting my former team-mates and playing in front of the fans again at the Emirates."

After two nightmarish years, Eduardo's dreams are at last coming true.