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Life was not always easy for Eduardo in England, but the Shakhtar Donetsk striker cannot wait to return to London this week.

Eduardo believes facing European champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night gives Shakhtar the perfect chance to underline just how far they have come.

The Ukrainian side beat Chelsea 2-1 in Donetsk, but are fully aware that a ­positive result at Stamford Bridge would send out an even bigger ­statement of intent to the rest of ­Europe.

Despite suffering a horrific injury that almost ended his career and being caught up in a diving storm during three years at Arsenal, ­Eduardo insists London is still ­special to him.

Croatian international Eduardo netted 22 times in 67 games for Arsenal and is still admired by the Gunners fans, who remember his instinctive goalscoring ability and infectious smile.

“I always love to come back to London,” said 29-year-old ­Eduardo. “It is a special place for me and, hopefully, I will see a few old friends.

“Going to Stamford Bridge, the home of the European champions, is a great ­opportunity to show how strong Shakhtar are. Of course, I still watch the Premier League and follow Arsenal’s results, and sometimes I do wonder whether I could have stayed in England longer.

“But I am now in my third season at Shakhtar and I have enjoyed my time at the club. It has gone very well for me.

“It was hard to leave Arsenal, but I wanted to go to a team to play and score goals, and I have done that at Shakhtar.

“I am a Shakhtar player and an Arsenal fan. I try to watch all the Arsenal games, either on the television or the internet.

“I know if I score against ­Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the Arsenal fans will be very pleased.

“Who knows what will ­happen in the future? I am very happy at Shakhtar and I enjoy myself here, but you never know – maybe one day I will play in England again.”

(Image: Getty)

Eduardo spent a year out injured at Arsenal after his leg and ankle were broken in a foul by Birmingham ­defender Martin Taylor. “I try to forget that whole time in my life,” Eduardo added.

But it was the diving controversy after winning a penalty against Celtic in the 2009 Champions League that still ­mystifies Eduardo. He was even ­criticised by Chelsea captain John Terry ahead of an England game against Croatia.

“I remember that, after the game against Celtic, I was killed for being a diver up until when Croatia played England in World Cup qualifying,” said Eduardo. “Everybody was trying to kill me and get into my head up to that game.

“I don’t remember who exactly was saying what, but it was clear people were trying to kill me before that England game. People used that game with Celtic against me and it was not fair. All I heard from everywhere was ‘diver, diver’.

“If you looked closely there were a lot of people you could have called ‘diver’, but you never heard Wayne ­Rooney being called a diver...

“After my situation, there have been a lot of dives, but nobody sees them, no?”

“Foreign players get a hard time for diving in England. They are treated ­differently.

“Look at Rooney. He dives and nobody sees anything.”

Meanwhile, Eduardo ­insists there are only three clubs good enough to sign £25million-rated Willian – and Spurs are not one of them.

* This exclusive interview came courtesy of SEM Group