Spanish Football / Ben Lyttleton / 05 October 2009 / Leave a comment

As the likes of Ibrahimovic, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo made the headlines in Spain this summer as star players joining La Liga, Ben Lyttleton looks at the impact of one who remained in Spain. Sevilla's Luis Fabiano has become one of the world's top strikers and may still get better.

"Fabiano, now 28, admitted he was too young to make it at that stage. He
returned to São Paulo and though he scored 48 goals in 57 league matches,
earned headlines for the wrong reasons."

Luis Fabiano spent the summer dreaming of a move to AC Milan, but he is probably a very relieved man today. The centre-forward, currently first-choice striker for World Cup favourites Brazil, ([5.5]) to win in South Africa, was part of the Sevilla side that ended Real Madrid's perfect start to the season this weekend. At the same time, Milan were labouring to a fourth straight game without a win, a 1-1 draw with Atalanta that leaves them 12th in Serie A.

Neither result was particularly surprising: Madrid were missing Cristiano Ronaldo and, just as significantly, Lassana Diarra, but that should not detract from a superb performance from Manolo Jimenez's side. Every few games, Jimenez seems to be fighting for his job but this current Sevilla squad is better than the double-Uefa Cup winners under Juande Ramos. Like that team, this one plays at a high-tempo all over the pitch, and with wingers Jesus Navas and Diego Capel, will always create chances for the likes of Fabiano, who along with Fredi Kanoute and Alvaro Negredo, make up one of the strongest front-lines in Europe.

The story of Fabiano in Europe is one of perseverance as much as anything
else: Rennes smashed their club record and spent £12m on him in the summer of 2000,
but he complained about the food and the coaching and did not score in his 11 appearances. "He was incapable of doing anything we asked of him," remembered his coach Christian Gourcuff. "He was just not interested."

Fabiano, now 28, admitted he was too young to make it at that stage. He returned to São Paulo and though he scored 48 goals in 57 league matches, earned headlines for the wrong reasons. In one season, he received four red cards, one from female referee Silvia Regina de Oliveira, of whom he said, "They don¹t understand football." When he was dismissed for elbowing Rodolfo in another game, he claimed his opponent was gay "and went down like a homo". He went to anger-management specialists and they helped curb his temper. "I used to be a handful but you change with time and experience. My colleagues have told me I'm like another person on the pitch now."

Porto took a chance on him after that, but the team was undergoing problems of its own in the post-Mourinho era, while the kidnap of his mother for 61 days did not help his adaptation. That's when Sevilla swooped and under first Ramos and now Jimenez, Fabiano has finally cemented his place among the world's top strikers, as his purple patch last month ­ two goals for Brazil in their win over Argentina, followed by three in two for Sevilla ­ proved.

Fabiano is ([13.5]) to finish La Liga top-scorer this season, while Sevilla are [(3.5]) to win La Liga with a 17-point handicap. The latter, set because last season they finished 17 points behind Barcelona, is an excellent price, not just as Sevilla are now stronger while Barcelona may not be, but also because it could come in should Sevilla get something from next week's trip to Camp Nou.

And what of Milan? One goal in their last four matches suggests they were wrong to baulk at paying an extra £2m for Fabiano (they bid £15m and would not go up to £17m) while their failure to sign France's Player of the Year Yoann Gourcuff haunts them now Kaka has left. There is a huge imbalance in the squad, as shown by their reliance on strikers at either end of the age spectrum: Pippo Inzaghi, 36 and Alex Pato, 20. Meanwhile Ronaldinho is a shadow of his 2006 self and coach Leonardo, blameless for inheriting such a mess, looks dazed and confused.

Milan may only be five points from third place but their situation could get worse before it gets better. They are still a ([2.96]) lay for a top-three finish. Given their troubles, and the strength of teams around them like Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Genoa, that's a decent price to lay.

Tags: Brazil World Cup odds, La Liga betting, Luis Fabiano, Sevilla squad, Spanish football results