A Scotland player, so the story goes, packed beach shorts and sunglasses for a trip to the Faroe Islands. He thought, at his destination, there would be pyramids, a sphinx and desert sands. Jo should be less ignorant about the North Sea archipelago where he will make his debut for Manchester City. The striker cost a record £18m but by no means will he be the first would-be Pele to wow the Faroese.

In 1999, bankrolled by a fish-factory owner, B68, a club from Toftir, signed four obscure players from Brazil. Three were bums but the fourth, Marcelo Marcolino, became the leading scorer in the Formuladeildin (Faroese championship) and since then the islands have welcomed a stream of Brazilians. EB/Streymur, City’s Uefa Cup first-round qualifying opponents, may come from a village where buildings still have traditional turf roofs and a recent population count numbered 199, but Jo will not seem overly-exotic when he steps out amid the screeching of puffins at their 1,000-capacity stadium.

Until recently, indeed, there were more Brazilians in Faroese football than in the English game. In fact, almost every country had more. In excess of 5,000 Brazilians play professionally abroad but as recently as 2005-06 there were just three in the Premier League. Now, following Jo’s arrival, the number is 17 and only France, of nonUK nations, provides the top flight with more players. The ranks are swelling. Hull yesterday signed Geovanni, after his release by City, while Luiz Felipe Scolari, Chelsea’s new Brazilian coach, is said to be targeting Robinho, Alcides and other compatriots. Liverpool look certain to sign Palmeiras goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri, while Arsenal are linked with Portuguesa striker Diogo and Manchester United with Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano.

And then there is Ronaldinho. City, despite derision and statements from the player’s brother linking him to AC Milan, remain hopeful of signing the former World Footballer of the Year. Ronaldinho may hardly be leaping out of his spa bath for the chance to wear that almost-famous sky blue shirt, but City remain the only club to have made a serious approach to Barcelona for their unwanted No 10 and seven meetings have taken place between representatives of City and the player.

“Emotionally, we would all like to see Ronaldinho at this football club. So would the Premier League,” said Garry Cook, City’s executive chairman. “Economically, these things are very complex, but Mark [Hugh-es] and I have talked about it and Mark’s a young manager who wants to challenge himself and have the best footballers in his team.”

Why England has taken so long to join the green-and-gold rush for Brazilian talent is mysterious but influenced by precedent. Continental European nations, especially Spain, Italy and Portugal, have traditions of buying South Americans that stretch back more than half a century, whereas England had no influx until the 1990s and while Juninho bewitched, other early arrivals (remember the uninterested Branco?) merely bewildered. It took a second migration (Kle-berson notwithstanding) to convince and bypass tedious prejudice of the “those-tricks - might - look - good - on - the -Copacabana-but-what-about-Bolton-on-a-wet-December-Tuesday” sort.

What England had ignored was overwhelming evidence that no nation’s footballers have proved more adaptable and less fazed by challenges than Brazil’s. Sir Alex Fergsuon, having seen a teenage Anderson swan into Old Trafford and rather own the place, asked: “Tell me a Brazilian player who couldn’t play in a big game?”

The export of their players, said to account for 4% of GDP, is something Brazil is proud of and the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) publishes an annual list of Brazilians transferred abroad from Brazilian clubs. In 2007 an extraordinary 1,085 such transfers took place. The list is exhaustive, for among the six that relate to English clubs, one involves the transfer of a Rui Machado from Mineiros Esporte Clube to FC Francos in the Boston and District League, while another details the peregrination of Daniel Bruscagini from Ginasio Pinhelense to Westover Bournemouth, a local team in Dorset.

Three Brazilians went to the Faroe Islands in 2007, and destinations included everywhere from India to Angola to Syria. The sheer scale of the game in Brazil helps explain the numbers. The country, with its football-drunk population of 187m, has more than 500 professional clubs employing around 23,000 professional players; 90% of these collect net monthly wages of less than £100, making a transfer – anywhere – attractive to the vast majority.

Their growing community in England does not include Chelsea’s Deco and Arsenal’s Eduardo, both Brazilian born-and-bred despite adopting, respectively,

‘ Portuguese and Croatian nationality. Tottenham’s Giovani Dos Santos plays for Mexico, his mother’s country, but his father was a Brazilian pro called Zizinho. For the £18m (an estimated fee) paid for Jo, City have acquired a speedy, skilful, 6ft striker who has already demonstrated the ability to prosper in tough foreign climes and the Champions League, via his spell with CSKA Moscow. And Jo is just 21 and brings the marketable cachet of being a “samba star”, a son of the most glamorous and successful football nation on Earth.

“We shouldn’t be surprised that Brazilians are starting to come in numbers,” said Cook. “The Premier League is a global stage and one of the reasons Jo, as great a player as he is, is not as renowned as he could be is that he was playing in Moscow. On a global basis 3.4 billion viewers every year watch the Premier League and they’ll get to see Jo.

Brazilians grow up with all the technical ability you could wish for and if you find one that’s aggressive and quick, which is what Jo brings, you’ve got something special. Our game has changed. We have Mike Summer-bee [City’s former England winger] working here and players of his generation tell you how different it was 20-30 years ago. They played in six inches of mud and you needed a different skill set. The surfaces are better now. The technical level is very different.”

Relaxed and (through an interpreter) talk-Islands in 2007, and destinations included everywhere from India to Angola to Syria. The sheer scale of the game in Brazil helps explain the numbers. The country, with its football-drunk population of 187m, has more than 500 professional clubs employ-ative, a hubcap-sized medallion swinging from his neck, Jo looked every inch made for the big stage when he was unveiled at his press conference at Eastlands. Brazilians can fit in at most places. The CBF’s 2007 list mentions one transfer to Scotland, that of Jean Franklin Ferreira to Edinburgh City, who compete in the mud-and-blood East of Scotland League, in which this writer has played. Last month one of Edinburgh City’s games was abandoned when the referee was attacked.An arrest was made and, for legal reasons, newspaper reports could not name the assailant, though one noted: “It is alleged the player, a 25-year-old Brazilian, attacked the referee when it became clear he was going to receive a red card.”

Climbing the League of Nations table

In 2005-06, there were only three Brazilians in the Premier League. Now 17 are signed to top-flight clubs and the total is rising fast. Of the 525 players who appeared in the Premier League last season, Brazil provided 14 – the same as Scotland

Premier League players 2007-08

1 English 184
2 French 34
3 Irish 24
4 Welsh 16
5= Brazilian 14
5= Spanish 14
5= Scottish 14
8 American 13
9 Dutch 12
10 Portuguese 11

The export business

The Brazilian Football Federation says more than 5,000 Brazilians are playing abroad. Some 1,085 were transferred from Brazil to foreign clubs in 2007. The highest number, 277, went to Portugal, followed by Japan (57), Italy (47) and Germany (44). Only six arrived in England but this year there will be an increase

Next to arrive?

Robinho. Reportedly miffed at stories Real Madrid are willing to use him as a makeweight in an offer for Cristiano Ronaldo. Linked with Chelsea and would cost upwards of £20m

Ronaldinho. Still the best player in the world, according to computer games, his enduring popularity in the Far East interests Manchester City’s Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra. City remain the only club in the bidding for a player officially valued at £40m by Barcelona

Alcides. Chelsea already have a controlling stake in the PSV Eindhoven centre-back who says he is wanted at Stamford Bridge as a replacement for Ricardo Carvalho

Luis Fabiano. Mercurial Sevilla striker reputed to be on Manchester United and Arsenal’s lists of summer targets. Runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo in last season’s Golden Shoe standings