"Since he came to the club, I have never seen him score with his head," reflected the City boss. "I don't know how many goals he has scored in his career like that but I cannot imagine it is many.
An £8million summer arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk, Elano was one of the stand-out Premier League performers during the opening couple of months and a major influence behind City's rise into the top four.
However, after returning from international duty in October with a minor injury, his form dipped markedly and Eriksson revealed it is only now the 26-year-old has been able to start training properly.
"We have not had the real Elano since October or November," he said.
"The last two times he has come back from the national team he has been injured. Then he was a bit sick, so he has not been training regularly.
"Thankfully, he has trained well for a few weeks now and physically, he is a lot better than he was a month ago.
"He is a world-class player and when you are looking for someone to do something special in the last third, he is the man."
