Brazilian-born Croatian star Eduardo da Silva was sent on loan two times as a Dinamo Zagreb player before he returned to the club to secure a regular place in the starting XI. He was out on loan to Croatia Sesvete and InterZapresic as a Dinamo Zagreb player. Eduardo da Silva became a key player for Dinamo Zagreb when he returned from his loan spell at Inter Zapresic in the summer of 2003.

In his first season after his loan spell at Inter Zapresic, Eduardo da Silva won the best player award. He also won the best player award two more times before he left the club to sign for Premier League side Arsenal for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £7.5m.

Eduardo da Silva was a major performer for Dinamo Zagreb as they won the league title in the Croatian top flight. He also the Croatian Cup in addition to winning the 2006 Croatian Super Cup courtesy the big win over Rijeka. Eduardo scored twice to lead his team to a 4-1 victory over Rijeka.

In his last season at Dinamo Zagreb. Eduardo scored five times in six outings for the Croatian club in two qualifying rounds as far Champions League footballis concerned. The goal tally also involved the UEFA Cup. Eduardo scored twice to propel Dinamo Zagreb to a big away win over Ekranas. He was the star of the game which ended in a 4-1 for Zagreb. Also, Eduardo scored the first European goal at the Emirates Stadium, newly built at the time. Arsenal came from behind to overturn the deficit from his goal for a 2-1 win in the second leg and a 5-1 aggregate win in the Champions League third qualifying round. He also scored the two goals for Zagreb in the 5-2 aggregate defeat to French team Auxerre in the UEFA Cup first round.