Éder gets new lease of life in Lille

After impressing hugely in his Braga days, Éder’s career seemed to have been ruined by the dreaded anterior cruciate ligament injury, which he suffered in early 2013. He was never the same player after returning for the Arsenalistas, and a switch to English Premier League side Swansea last summer failed to kick-start his career.

Éder’s luck seems to have changed, however, following a second move in 2015/16, this time on loan to French club Lille. The 28-year-old has been a revelation for the Ligue 1 outfit, and Seleção fans will be hoping he can bring his best form to the national team at Euro 2016. Éder looks certain to be Portugal’s only recognised striker in Fernando Santos’s squad in France.

PortuGOAL takes a look at Éder’s rebirth.

 

Andrew Gibney is a French football expert who created the French Football Weekly website and writes regularly for FourFourTwo and Bleacher Report among others. He also happens to be a keen Lille supporter, so he is the perfect man to ask about Éder’s excellent run of form at the French club.

 

Éder has really hit the ground running at Lille with 5 goals and 3 assists in 8 matches. Have his performances been as impressive as those stats?

When he arrived, no one quite knew what to expect. His name wasn’t known in France and with the amount of strikers Lille bought in the summer, confidence over the club finding a good player on loan was low. He’s added a new dimension to the attack. Lille lacked a focal point and someone to bring the others into play, Éder has changed, or helped the way Frederic Antonetti wants to play.

 

What would you say are the main strengths Éder has shown at Lille?

His hold-up play has been excellent. Combining with Sofiane Boufal, Rony Lopes and Mounir Obbadi, he has helped make Lille a dangerous team on the break.

He seems to have a natural nose for goal. You can see that in his opening goal. Drifting to the back post, he got lucky the ball made it to him, but he was in the right place. With every goal or assist his confidence has grown. He looks quick and sharp and if you watch his wonderful finish against Nantes, he is showing no hesitation in having a shot.

 

What do the fans think of him?

Because of his work rate, the fans took to him quite quickly. Then the results and goals have followed. With how bad Lille were playing at the start of the season, the fans were desperate for something to save them and add excitement. Éder has provided that, he’s a fan-favourite now.

 

Can you pick out anything the coach or his team-mates have said about him that is particularly noteworthy.

After his fourth goal, Antonetti said: “Coming here is a win-win transaction. He did not play at Swansea, he came, he was ready and he wanted to show his qualities. He’s a hard worker, a warrior, he’s very mobile and is good in the air, so he has helped us enormously. He has remarkable quality for his size, he has the ability to shoot very quickly, which we saw at Nantes.”

 

Has there been any talk of next season? Will the loan move at Lille be made permanent? 

There has been no talk yet. It’s hard to see Lille at least not trying to get him permanently. Éder has expressed how much he likes the city. It will all come down to money. Lille are expected to spend around €5m on a striker in the summer. It depends on what Swansea are willing to accept.

 

In your opinion, based on what you’ve seen, can Éder do a job as Portugal’s No9 at Euro 2016? 

Without knowing the options Portugal have upfront, it’s hard to see why Éder wouldn’t be a good option in attack. Portugal have struggled to find that ideal No9 since Pauleta retired. He has all the attributes you want in a target man. He’s not selfish and will help bring others into play. Also, now that he knows the host country better, he could be an asset in the squad in that regard too.

 

Our thanks to Andrew Gibney for sharing his insight. For more from Andrew follow him on Twitter @Gibney_A.