The question draws from Elano Blumer a knowing little smile. “Era bom, era bom,” he says: “I do it well.” Micah Richards had better watch his form for the craftsman who has so quickly made Manchester City his workshop claims he can knock up a decent performance at centre-half. Supporters will not be in the least surprised. They already agree with the man himself. Elano can do anything.

Last weekend, Newcastle United could not cope with the ways the Brazilian affects a football match. First, he passed Sam Allardyce’s team into that disorientated state where formations cannot be remembered and game plans are misplaced.

Then he belted past Shay Given a free kick that had Sven-Göran Eriksson, his manager, saying he had just witnessed perfection. In between, there were feints and dribbles, tackles and headers, even covering play. Today it is Middlesbrough’s challenge to try to contain the marvellous Mr Blumer. “I am,” says Elano, making it all sound prosaic, “a multi-task player.”

Middlesbrough pioneered Brazilians in the Premier League but while Juninho, mercurial and individual, was the stereotype of a “Samba star”, Elano is an entirely different kind of boy from Brazil. He has been a favourite of Dunga since Dunga became Brazil coach – and no wonder.

Dunga, in his day, was a new Brazilian, a frills-free team man bent on winning and, for all that he is more delicate, both technically and physically, so is Elano. He says that although the Newcastle free kick “was the best goal I’ve scored, the most beautiful”, City were 2-1 ahead at the time and he would have taken more pleasure from a simple pass to create the winner in a game locked at 0-0. “At Guarani, my first club, and also at Santos I played every position except goalkeeper,” he says before reporting on the prowess he showed at centre-half. “I don’t care where I play, just as long as I am able to help my team. So long as the right result comes up, I’m happy.”

Asked why his City side seem so three-dimensional, when his England were so two, Eriksson remarked: “Because with England I never had a player like Elano.” The Swede compares him to an elite triumvirate he has managed – Roberto Mancini, Roberto Baggio and Ruud Gullit. All were virtuoso but group-minded performers. Elano laughs out loud at the suggestion that, now he is entering his prime at the age of 26 and finally playing in one of Europe’s big leagues, he can aim for the status of famous compatriots.

“No, no,” he says. “I class myself as a fighter and a battler. Wherever I play I give myself to the club. I cannot compare myself to the Ronaldinhos, Ronaldos, Robinhos, Peles. I’m nothing like that.”

His desire to do well for Manchester City is sharpened by gratitude. Part of the greatest Santos team since Pele’s day, alongside Robinho, Diego and Alex, now of Chelsea, Elano was sold to Europe in 2005 after Santos won their second championship in three years. But while Spain, Portugal and Holland were destinations for the others, Elano found himself stranded and shivering in Ukraine. At Shakhtar Donetsk, Elano gained two further league titles and exposure to the Champions League but little else other than chilblains and dollars.

“What people don’t know is I didn’t play very often at Shakhtar,” he says, referring to his 38 league appearances in three seasons. “I was only getting odd games and I was having problems because of that. It’s difficult for a Brazilian when the temperature is 23 degrees below zero. But it was nice to come to Europe to sort out my family financially.

“I don’t regret it because I had a lot of input into going there. But I believe I lost one World Cup. I was involved in the [Brazil] games before the [2006] World Cup but after I went to the Ukraine I was never in the national team,” he says.

“It’s very difficult to live in Ukraine because you don’t have a place to go after training or playing a match. Inside the club it’s quite nice but your private life outside is difficult, and once you’re not happy outside football that starts showing itself on the pitch.”

Then there was the food. “You can’t say it’s that bad, but it’s not that good,” Elano smiles. “I asked for many things to be sent from Brazil – rice, meat, beans. I also used the same hotel for 2½ years. I used to go there with my family because the food was quite nice.”

An equable sort who does not seem prone to melodrama, he may not exaggerate when he adds: “I prayed to God every day that I might leave to another club.”

Atletico Madrid were interested, and Allardyce wanted him for Newcastle but could not act because Mike Ashley’s takeover was incomplete. Then, one week after helping Brazil win the Copa America, Elano was on holiday with Alexandra, his wife, and Maria Teresa, his young daughter, when his agent called. Did he fancy moving to Manchester City? Elano confesses to knowing little about the club except that Eriksson had just become manager, but the player was unwilling to wait for other offers and said yes. Tipped off by Dunga, his former charge at Fiorentina, Eriksson had a totem for his new team for just £8m.

“City answered my prayers because coming here was a big door opening for me. Mr Eriksson [who speaks some Portuguese] is always talking to me, asking if I’m feeling good or need anything. And my teammates, even though I don’t speak much of their language, I feel are my friends. They and the staff seem very caring towards me. I feel I’m a very blessed person. I give myself to the cause,” Elano says. “The fans are very happy with me and that shows the team is doing well. It’s quite different in Brazil. In Brazil when your team loses or you’re not performing well, if you go to the restaurant the waiter charges you more than the normal price. You can’t go there with your family.

“City were not too well known in Brazil but now, because of me and the other players [including compatriot Geovanni], the press is starting to talk about us.”

He does not want to tempt fate by giving his view on whether City can maintain a top-six position but it is clear he believes that they can. Asked to compare City’s level to that of the two “Big Four” clubs they have played so far, Manchester United and Arsenal, he says: “Nowadays I don’t see any difference at all.”

No story of a Brazilian maestro would be complete without humble origins. Elano comes from Iracemapolis, a rural village in Sao Paulo state. “As a kid I had to catch four buses to get to training and four more to get back,” he says. “I also had to find time to study. It was difficult.

“In Brazil, when you start you try to be friends with other professional players. That way they’ll give you their old boots.” Riding the buses were violent gangs. “It was dangerous but they left me alone because I had nothing for them to steal,” he says, “just my slippers, my shorts, my shirt, my cap and my coins for the fare.”

Elano’s travels have not always been easy but in “beautiful” Manchester, he feels he has arrived. Manchester City v Middlesbrough, today, 3pm