Arsenal have confirmed the departure of Fabio Vieira on a season-long loan to Porto.
The midfielder returns to his boyhood club with the aim of playing more regularly having struggled to assert himself at the Emirates following his €35 million move two summers ago.
Despite huge enthusiasm about Vieira’s arrival, Mikel Arteta never seemed quite sure how to get the best from the 24-year-old. Most of the Portuguese’s 33 appearances in the Premier League have been as a substitute and he’s never seriously challenged Martin Odegaard for the number 10 position or looked like nailing down a position on the flanks.
While Arsenal’s decision to loan Vieira has come as a surprise, especially given the exit of Emile Smith Rowe, it does feel pragmatic. He needs to play football this season to regain his mojo and with Ethan Nwaneri climbing through the ranks we have a player with a similar profile waiting in the wings.
It’s claimed Porto’s fee will depend on meeting certain objectives set by Arsenal and that there will be deductions if Vieira isn’t fielded in at least 50% of the games he’s available for.
Hopefully, he excels in familiar surroundings. If he does Arsenal can reassess the need for him in a year or, hopefully, sell him for closer to what we paid. Nobody gains if we hold onto him for the sake of it, something we’ve been guilty of doing with other players.
On his return to Porto, Vieira said: “I’m anxious because I want to start in a place that I already know, I’m very happy to be here and I feel ready to start work and be able to help the team as much as possible.
“I wanted to have minutes, something that was difficult for me in England because I had two injuries and I thought that Porto would be the best option for me, so I could regain my competitiveness, minutes and I’m happy to be here and ready to start to work.”
Good luck to him. PROTEIN POWDER. LOTS OF IT.
they get great powder in Portugal shipped from the other side of the Atlantic but not sure about protein
I still don’t think strength was his biggest flaw.
I think it was much more about a lack of intensity. Fabio just doesn’t have any. I don’t remember him ever busting a gut to close down and snapping into tackles like Odegaard does.
Really good on the ball. But off it I think he was pretty much non existent. And that just doesn’t fly for Arteta.
Last game of the season against Wolves, up 5-0, tracked and harassed Traore all the way back to the touchline.
You kids with your facts and knowledge.
👏👏👏 great comment! 😂
The essence of the problem is that he doesn’t get clean looks often enough to use his elite ball striking. To get clean looks he needs a structure around him that supports that. At Arsenal he’s not getting that structure because we have Saka. He also needs to find space in tight areas against bigger players. This isn’t a matter of upper body strength, it’s a combination of anticipation, balance and quickness. Watch how Odegaard does it. Sees the contact coming, adjusts his body and makes a first touch that sets him clear. That’s what Fabio needs to learn.
Proper take
I wondered if some of his injuries weren’t maybe caused by him trying to bulk up at the gym and being unsuited for it. One of the brilliant things about football is that there’s no such thing as the “ideal” body type and I hope Vieira gets the chance to develop and show off his technique, creativity and end product so people remember how good players can be without looking like 2018 Pogba.
Vieira will always be an Arsenal legend.
As Pepe too.
Better league for him. A season to get his mojo back, before a decent money move next summer.
Good for everyone.
I think he blotted his copybook with that silly straight red vs Burnley (came on as a sub) last Nov and then was MIA with groin problems. Being reliable and available are kind of important. Not one of our better recent signings.
Hope he’s going to play in goal a bit for them too, otherwise you just needlessly broke a streak of 4 consecutive posts about goalkeepers. You coulda been a contender, you coulda been somebody!
I’m holding on to my stock. This guy can flat out play. It may not be at Arsenal because he may be a guy who has to be the centerpiece somewhere rather than the complementary piece we need. But he’s going to be involved in lots and lots of goals.
Yeah – it hasn’t really worked at Arsenal (he’s looked great on occasion though) but no doubt he is a quality footballer.
Good luck Vieira.
Surely we have to be certain of making an attacking signing if we’re letting Nketia and Vieira leave (potentially Nelson too). Arteta is meticulous and doesn’t take risks and I feel like it’s a big risk if we don’t sign a quality forward with this current squad.
Nelson will stay. Too late in the day to get anyone else in. It’s a risk to be so light up front and I’m not sure why Arteta is willing to take that risk but this is it guys. Back to January 2024. Let’s hope we achieve the same excellent results as back then!
If this is it then we’ll struggle. I’m very convinced of that. Thankfully I don’t think edu or Arteta are that daft. Our attacking options are: Martinelli (zero end product and form currently in the gutter), Trossard, Jesus (perma crocked bloke who doesn’t score goals), Havertz (sometimes scores goals), Saka and Nelson (not even a relegation club wants to take a punt on him)
Forgot to mention our most prolific duo (Saka/Havertz) haven’t had a break since god knows when, and will very probably miss a chunk of games due to fatigue/injury (because they are human). Then what? This will probably get downvoted to shit until we play city with Nelson as a false 9 because everyone else is crocked, we get pounded and everyone loses their minds lol
Not gonna downvote you but mate just breathe, enjoy the season and COYG!
Nelson looks to be staying. He’ll get plenty some minutes too surely, after these outgoings. But I agree, an attacker must be coming in as we’ve lost Eddie, Vieira and ESR and only Nwaneri has come into the first team, and he’s not primarily an attacker anyway. No doubt we’re light at the top of the pitch as it stands.
It’s a real opportunity for Nelson. If he stays fit he’ll likely play 30+ games – more than any other season of his career.
If Nelson is the 30 game a season answer to our attacking depth question, then we aren’t a serious team this year.
Certainly a talented player, but if he’s going on loan at this stage, I can’t see him seriously being a success for us. Hopefully he smashes it at Porto and reignites his career
He has the skillset to be a great player. I thought he could’ve been our Bernardo Silva.
He really does need to bulk up though.
I think his challenge here will be to play as many minutes as possible and try to break into the Portugal squad.
If he’s there by the end of the season perhaps we might see him back here. Otherwise at least he gets a good move and we should receive a decent fee too.
That there is no obligation to buy suggests Arteta still has faith in him.
Bernardo isn’t very bulky. Like Bernardo, he’s never gonna be physically robust because of his height and build. So like Bernardo he has to learn the art of using a combination of first touch and shifting body weight upon receiving in anticipation of contact. It’s not easy but to thrive in this league at that size that’s the bar.
Exactly. Much lower level but my 14-yo son is relatively small and skinny (just played against some Croatian giants last night) but he is mostly effective because of this point that you made.
The thing about bigger guys is that they have a certain momentum when they come at you. If you have your radar on you can use shift and use that momentum against them.
A footballer’s life is strange. But they do earn a lot to balance the ups and downs of the job.
All the best, Fabio. We love you.❤️
Dr Gooner will be waiting outside London Colney next summer like Greyfriars Bobby.
It’s claimed Porto’s fee will depend on meeting certain objectives set by Arsenal and that there will be deductions if Vieira isn’t fielded in at least 50% of the games he’s available for.
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Sorry, what? I thought we were charging them a few to loan him?
We have KT aswell rotting on our bench I know 115 were strangely linked to him but a Kygo and KT swap deal would be an idea.
Kygos a team player, play across front line, hardworker decent player
Sadly we can’t transfer injured players