Shakhtar sign 'one for the future'

Summer arrival
Fernandinho will join the Ukrainian Premier League leaders in the summer for a fee thought to be €8m, but is expected in Donetsk on 22 February to undergo a medical and sign a five-year contract with the club.

Unfinished business
The 19-year-old midfield player will then return to Brazil to continue playing for Atlético Paranaense in the Copa Libertadores, South America's equivalent to the UEFA Champions League. Fernandinho will become Shakhtar's fourth Brazilian recruit of 2005, linking up with compatriots Jadson Rodriguez, Ivan Saraiva and Elano Blumer.

Transfer policy
Coach Mircea Lucescu said: "We are watching the Brazilian league carefully. Our club president [Rinat Akhmetov] has taken note of the transfer policies of clubs like FC Barcelona and AC Milan. As a result, we have taken the best players in last season's Brazilian championship, who all have great futures in the game."

Stoican absence
One piece of bad news for Lucescu, however, is that defender Flavius Stoican will miss the first leg of Shakhtar's UEFA Cup last-32 tie at home to FC Schalke 04 on 16 February. The Romanian has a heel injury but should return for the second leg.