It feels like make or break time for Fabio Vieira. The Portuguese midfielder is now in his third season at Arsenal, but is yet to really make his mark.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
There have been brief flashes. His goal against Brentford on his Premier League debut stands out, while a positive start to the season saw him start last campaign’s North London Derby at the Emirates Stadium. Those moments have been too few and far between though.
Of course, injuries have played their part. Vieira arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2022 with a foot problem that saw him miss all of pre-season, a crucial time to acclimatise to Mikel Arteta’s tactical demands. He also missed around four months of last season after requiring multiple surgeries on a groin issue.
Upon returning he managed just 54 minutes, remaining an unused substitute on 14 occasions. Maybe it was because he couldn’t risk getting him up to match sharpness in crucial games, but when it came down to the crunch, it seemed Arteta did not trust Vieira.
It’s a damning indictment on the midfielder who is now 24 years old. Arteta promised that we were “going to enjoy” Vieira when we got the chance to see him, but three years in, that has hardly happened.
To be fair to Vieira, he is in something of an impossible position. The former Porto midfielder is ostensibly understudy to Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian is Arsenal’s captain and arguably their best player, so getting any sort of regular minutes is going to be tough.
With that in mind it has been interesting to see how Vieira has been deployed this season. When Odegaard has come off, it has generally been highly rated youngster Ethan Nwaneri who has come in on in his place. Vieira instead has been used as a right winger.
It seems his role may now have shifted from Odegaard’s back up, to cover for Bukayo Saka. Again though, this is a very difficult position to be in given that Saka has played nearly every minute he’s been available for the past three seasons.
Things can of course change. Look at how David Raya unseated the seemingly undroppable Aaron Ramsdale in goal. But there has been little sign from these pre-season games that Vieira could threaten Saka’s spot.
The 24-year-old scored a superbly taken goal against Bournemouth, but was quiet in the game aside from that. Flitting in and out of games has been something of a theme for Vieira this pre-season where has been given his fair share of minutes. It was the same against Leverkusen on Wednesday, where in a thrilling attacking display, the Portuguese was the only member of the front line to remain relatively anonymous.
This could be a problem for Arteta going forward. Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah look set to leave, while Emile Smith Rowe has already left, which means Arsenal’s options in that right wing position are dwindling slightly. Gabriel Jesus can play there, while Gabriel Martinelli started the final game of last season in the position as well. Leandro Trossard is another who could fill the role if needed.
But Arteta will want a more orthodox competition for the forward if he can get it. This is why the Gunners remain interested signing Nico Williams even though the Spanish international seems more likely to stay at Athletic Bilbao by the day. William does admittedly prefer the left flank, but he could provide a real alternative and threat to Saka down the right.
It is now on Vieira to prove that he still has something to offer this Arsenal squad as they seek Premier League glory. At £35million, he was not cheap, and now that his injuries are behind him, the 24-year-old will be hoping to influence games more regularly than he has done this pre-season.
