Fabio Vieira says he’s thrilled to join Arsenal after sealing a move to Emirates Stadium in double-quick time.
While the Gunners have been keeping close tabs on the Portugal under-21 international for some time, only last week did our interest in the player surface.
By that point a financial agreement with Porto – confirmed to be a €40 million package – had already been struck, paving the way for a medical, a tour of the training ground with technical director Edu and his unveiling.
He also sat down with the club for a quick interview.
“I’m thrilled, of course,” he said after penning his five year deal.
“This is an important step forward in my career. Arsenal is a huge and historic club, so I’m delighted to be here at my new home.
“It certainly was a fast process,” he added. “It was something that I was drawn to. Meeting the people at the club was a real positive for me. I’m loving it here and I’m here to give the team my all.
“Arsenal is a historic English club. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the world. Everyone knows that Arsenal are a fantastic team. That was one of the main factors behind me choosing Arsenal. I really like the way the team plays and I can’t wait to get started.”
As to what supporters can expect from him, Fabio continued: “I’m an attacking player who looks to find space between the lines to be able to finish off moves either with assists or by scoring goals. I think those are the main attributes that Arsenal fans can expect from me. I’ll always give my all for the team.”
Clearly chuffed to have secured the signing of a player who was voted the best at last summer’s under-21s European Championships, Mikel Arteta said:
”I am very excited that we have identified and signed such a special talent. Fabio is a very creative player that will bring high quality and versatility to our attacking play.
“We welcome Fabio and his family to our club and are looking forward to starting work with him ahead of the new season.”
Edu added: “We’re so pleased to have completed the signing of Fabio from FC Porto. Fabio is a player with special qualities who is comfortable with the ball in the final third of the pitch. We are all looking forward to working with him and enjoying his future contribution to Arsenal. We will now continue to work hard and are looking forward to finishing this transfer window as strongly possible.”
Looking forward to watching this guy in an Arsenal shirt
Creative pressure off saka and Odegaard hopefully…Sign partey’s back up..we were lost without him at the end of the season
If Partey is fit, he plays every game. It‘s almost impossible to find a back up for such positions. Either the player is not at that level or he doesn’t want to play second fiddle if Partey can avoid injuries. Think the solution to him being out can only be a bit of a shift in formation by playing with 2 deeper midfielders then. And we have Xhaka, Lokonga and Elneny for that case. Maybe even White and Martinez (if he joins). But none of them will be able to do what Partey does. Very few players are, to be… Read more »
Mo did well when giving the opportunity last season, didn’t he?
Mo doesn’t call in sick either. Amazes me that the arsenal fan base above all overs still don’t value a player that can stay fit.
Spot on. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Some of the utter dross stupidity and ignorance displayed on these pages over the past few days has been truly staggering. Anybody would think that the club were penniless, utterly destitute and prohibited by The Premier League and UEFA from having anything more than a starting XI. And, paradoxically, heaven help us if any new signings are anything less than world superstars straight out of a FIFA22 dream team. Honestly, until the new season is underway, I may have to ditch these pages for a while, because some of the… Read more »
Aren’t you a little ray of sunshine?
Good riddance, shan’t be missed.
That’s Arsenal fans for you.
However, this time last year, you were probably the most miserable cunt on this site, with your anti Arteta rants.
No offence intended btw, it’s just my observation in words
I’ve always liked Elneny, but he does not do what Partey does. For example, one of the ways Partey transitions the ball quickly, back to front–when he gets it on the half-turn, from Ramsdale or the centre-halves, and moves it (especially to Odegaard) regardless of whether he is being pressed. Mo is smart enough to put himself into good positions to receive the ball, but if he is pressed he is much less likely to progress the ball into attack. To be fair, as others have pointed out, that sort of ability is why Partey is exceptional. The closest we… Read more »
Me too but we have to be patient with him. In his interview he also mentioned that he feels he still needs to work on the physical side of his game, which is, of course, a main requirement for success in the EPL.
It’s funny how fans say “let’s be patient with him” when they are talking about a new signing and then all guns come blazing when they have 2 or 3 dodgy games. Tavares came from the same league as this guy and we’ve seen how patient our fans has been with him. Wish you a long successful career at the Arsenal. And take our fans willingness to be patient as a pinch of salt.
Except when they were talking about Mo El Neny. Follow the thread
There’s a difference between the patience of stadium fans compared to online fans still living in their moms basement.
Very true. But since you brought it up I do hope we don’t give up on Tavares. He strikes me as one who could still develop into a special player
Why did they take his pictures by the shed in his back garden?
London fields next to the playground
Because he’s going to get a shed load of assists…
Because he pockets that many opposition players, he needed to invest in a shed
Funny. I can’t stop wondering why the screws are at the top of each course of siding instead of at the bottom. Makes no sense.
Shows him the direction he’ll be screwing. Top to bottom. He’ll be screwing the sp*rs a lot
Had to go look again due to your comment. Your right, makes no sense whatsoever. Never seen that before, they will begin to curl as they age.
Next week on Shed Builder, we review mansard nailing patterns for the shingles.
Usually you nail the top of the boards to hide the nails with the next board. If you nail the bottom there’s a chance you can split the board bellow.
He will be helping out with the roses until the rest of the squad assembles after the summer.
These environs will acclimatise him so that cometh the hour we can be confident he’ll able to hit a barn door with a banjo.
I like how Mikel included his family, also.
I feel like this will be a good window for us.
Great work from Edu and team
So edu basically wants a Portuguese speaking team going down the spine.
Rambo better learn quick!
Rambao.
“We will now continue to work hard and are looking forward to finishing this transfer window as strongly possible.”
Brilliant stuff. I’m finally starting to see what Josh Kroenke was telling us to be excited for.
It’s hard to argue that money has been flowing since Josh the front seat.
To be fair, I think the money has been flowing for a while but it seems to be spent much more wisely nowadays
TBF the other sporting franchises of KSE, Rams and Avalanche both made it to their respective finals. Rams won and Avalanche leading their finals. Bodes well for AFC.
Drop the ‘other’ – I’m sure KSE would live us to be a franchise but we’re not one yet
Even we were surprised by how quick the deal was pulled through boy! That’s not how we like to work here. Trust me.
Welcome to the Arsenal our Vieira 2.0! 💥 👊🏼
Nothing to see here, keep moving.
Kampala must be so proud of you…🙄
I hope we can buff him up a little bit
Even Patino will be roughing him up in training….
Interesting picture…. taken with a garden shed as the backdrop.
Money’s tight
Thats where the money’s kept
Oops….. sorry….. didn’t see JBFs comment and subsequent discussion 🤦♂️
This is truly the model to go if we are to challenge the Citys of this world. In three seasons, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Tierney, Lokonga, Fabio, Martinelli, ESR, Ødegaard, Saka and Nketiah would all still be under 27 and approaching the peak of their powers. If Saliba is still there, and Gabriel Jesus joins, what a nucleus that would be if all stay and play together till then. And by then too, the brightest lights from Hale End would be staking their claim. I would bet my money on a league title, or at least, a real title challenge that… Read more »