Arsenal's new Brazilian midfielder Edu has been refused entry to Britain by immigration officials at Heathrow Airport. The 22-year-old, signed for GBP 6 million, is accused in a Sun article of carrying a forged passport.

The club has issued a statement on AFCi.

Edu, who's supposed to have both a Brazilian and a Portuguese passport, said: "I really don't know what happened. I was told I did not need a visa."

Edu returned to South America within hours of arriving together in the company of Silvinho, who had no problems with Immigration officials. Arsenal's lawyers failed to prevent Edu being deported, but the Brazilian said he hoped to have the problem sorted within a week.

More details can be found at the BBC website.

The Evening Standard website's latest update says that the club are confident that things can be sorted out. There appears to be no question that Edu is entitled to a Portuguese passport through ancestry, but apparently an "intermediary" tried to "speed things up" and hence the dodgy documents. It should be stressed that no evidence of Edu having a a forged passport has been put forward. Our understanding is that if that were the case, Edu would be in a lot more trouble than he seems to.