Eriksson’s side welcome Middlesbrough to Eastlands on Sunday to take on a side in turbulent form so far this season.

Vedran Corluka, Javier Garrido, Gelson Fernandes and Geovanni were also bought - despite Eriksson having never seen them play in person – while Valeri Bojinov was seriously injured just weeks after signing.

The former England manager is excited by the potential of his summer recruits after seeing them make a strong start.

“I think the value of all the players who came in the summer has gone up, and of course that’s good,” the Swede told the club’s website, mcfc.co.uk.

“They are all young, and if everything goes right for them they should get better and better.”

Eriksson is well aware Middlesbrough – whose Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback has enjoyed a far less illustrious Premier League career than Elano so far – will target the playmaker as City’s key threat.

“Your opponents are not stupid, and we know they will prepare by studying the DVDs of him, that’s part of football and you can’t keep any secrets,” Eriksson added.

“They will know he’s a good player, but I think they knew that before last Saturday as well.

“His form shouldn’t be a surprise, he had a good Copa America although I think he was injured at the very end, but we knew about him, as did the other coaches and the scouts that were here before me.

“They all knew about most of the players we bought, so it’s teamwork that led to this and I’m very happy that we brought him here.”