Departing Gunners physio Lewin hopes Eduardo will be fit for pre-season

The future of the Brazil-born Croatia forward had looked bleak following an horrific broken leg suffered at Birmingham in February.  

However, the 25-year-old - who publicly thanked Lewin for his prompt assessment and treatment on the pitch at St Andrews - has made remarkable progress and has been doing extensive rehabilitation work back in his native Brazil.  

Continuing his recovery: Eduardo da Silva of Arsenal is applauded by the crowd ahead of the Premier League match between Arsenal and Middlesbrough in March

Eduardo may have been forced out of Euro 2008, but the former Dynamo Zagreb frontman could be back in an Arsenal shirt sooner than first expected.  

Lewin, who is set to take up a role as head of physiotherapy with the England senior team next month, said: "Hopefully, he will be back doing training during pre-season. We are setting no timescales for Eduardo because we don't want to put him under pressure, but we are confident he will make a full recovery."

Horror injury: Arsenal's Eduardo Da Silva suffers a broken leg in a tackle by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor

Lewin also confirmed Czech winger Tomas Rosicky was making excellent progress after a campaign blighted by injury which also kept him out of this summer's tournament in Austria and Switzerland.  

"Tomas has had surgery on his knee and we expect him to be flying by pre-season," Lewin told the club's official website, www.arsenal.com. 

"We have had some real nasty injuries and I think that is part and parcel of the game.  

"Look back at the years, we have been successful and we have had luck with injuries and not picked up many nasty injuries. Hopefully that will be the case next season." 

Lewin, 44, admitted it was a near "impossible" decision to part company with Arsenal for a new challenge, having been involved with the club for almost 30 years, initially as an apprentice back in 1980.  

"I have never really worked anywhere else and don't know what life is like outside of Arsenal. It is very, very difficult to say goodbye," said Lewin, who has been involved with the England team part-time since 1996. 

"The opportunity came up not only to work with the England national team on a full-time basis, but to go around other sports, Europe and around the world to seek out the best practices around the world.  

"What has a cyclist done to make them win so many medals? How do we prepare for the Olympics? How do rugby players deal with so much trauma? How is it treated? How do they treat injuries in Brazil, Australia, South Africa? 

"It took a lot of soul-searching and a lot of thought, but in the end, from a professional point of view, it was an opportunity I couldn't turn down."  

Arsenal are set to restructure their backroom medical staff next season, having recently recruited Neal Reynolds from Coca-Cola Championship side Norwich.  

But just who will be in manager Arsene Wenger's playing squad remains to be seen.

Reports in Italy continue to line up Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor with a move to AC Milan, while Udinese's £16million-rated defender Cristian Zapata and Valencia forward David Villa are said to be on Wenger's shopping list.  

However, the price tag on Spain international Villa will no doubt have been inflated after his hat-trick in yesterday's 4-1 win over Russia at Euro 2008. 

Gunners midfielder Cesc Fabregas, though, would love the opportunity to play with his international team-mate in the same club side.   "He would be amazing for the English league," said Fabregas, who netted the other goal - his first for Spain - in Innsbruck last night.  

"I would like to have him in my team because as you can see he can make the difference. David is an amazing player."  

Wenger is expected to tie-up a £13million deal for long-time target Samir Nasri, the Marseille midfielder, after Euro 2008 and reports in the north east suggest the French coach has an eye on Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given.  

Following the departure of veteran Jens Lehmann, Wenger has only youngsters Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone as back-up for Manuel Almunia.  

However, experienced Republic of Ireland international Given, 32, is unlikely to want to move anywhere as just back-up.