He may have been the least amount of hassle to have his name printed on the back of a jersey, but that is where it ends for the £19 million flop. He was brought in as a marquee signing to appease the supporters and simultaneously distract from the on-going crisis surrounding owner Thaksin Shinawatra. However, the former CSKA Moscow striker would be shoved into the background within a month, as Abu Dhabi's financial strength muscled in, and with their arrival, a Brazilian superstar of their own fancy would be holding up the Sky Blue jersey. The reason Jo caused Mark Hughes, and later Roberto Mancini, such a quagmire was that for all his undoubted talent, he was loathe to knuckle down and realise his talent as soon as he signed that lucrative contract on offer. Within four months of arriving in Manchester, the 21 year old was struck down with a bout of tonsillitis and instead of resting up, was caught frolicking in a nightclub. A furious Hughes instantly fined him, as his patience wore thin with the party-goer. Even while on loan at Everton, Jo continued to besmirch the good name of the club, irking boss David Moyes for a failure to show up to training. Having to cut short his loan, Jo kept repeating his misdemeanours at Eastlands, before City chiefs finally shipped the expensive flop back to Brazil in 2010.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
