Eduardo

Arsenal's stricken Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva could be playing again by the end of the year, the club announced yesterday. The horrific injury that he sustained in a challenge with Birmingham City's Martin Taylor has been identified as a fractured left fibula and open dislocation of the ankle joint, which the club said was not career-threatening.

Eduardo, who was 25 yesterday, is expected to be discharged from hospital later this week. The furore over his tackle has meant footage of it has been removed from websites such as YouTube while anonymous death threats against Taylor have been posted on the internet. However, in a move to calm the mood around the incident, Arsenal yesterday released the most upbeat assessment yet on Eduardo's condition.

"The orthopaedic surgeon and Arsenal medical staff assessed the extent of the damage and possible timescale for a full recovery," an Arsenal statement said. "All being well, Eduardo will have his leg in plaster and be using crutches for the next six to eight weeks. After that time, partial weight-bearing exercises will be scheduled into a slow rehabilitation process.

"It is hoped that Eduardo will be running again in six months' time and making a full recovery after nine months. Eduardo will be released from hospital in a few days."

The club said that the operation on Eduardo's left leg, which was undertaken at the Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham, had been successful; he has subsequently been moved to a London hospital.

The incident has caused a huge stir in Croatia, where the naturalised Brazilian is a national hero. He will miss the Euro 2008 finals.

At Birmingham City's Wast Hills training complex yesterday, security guards were forced to intervene when Croatian journalists ran into the road and tried to get into Taylor's car as he left. However, the Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said that the club were confident that the strong feelings around the incident would soon calm.

Taylor has visited Eduardo in hospital and spoken to Arsène Wenger personally. The Arsenal manager retracted his initial call for Taylor to be "banned for life" for the tackle.