FC Porto have reportedly struck a deal to bring Arsenal outcast Fabio Vieira back to the club on a season-long loan.
According to a report from The Athletic, Fabio Vieira is all set to mark his return to familiar territory as FC Porto have agreed terms with Arsenal to re-sign him on a loan deal. The Portuguese attacking midfielder is surplus to requirements at the North London club, and a loan spell back at his childhood club will help him revive himself.
Mikel Arteta’s team forked out a fee of around €40 million to sign the 24-year-old from FC Porto in the summer of 2022. He had a decent debut season with the Gunners as he featured in a total of 22 Premier League games. While it was a promising start nothing much has happened since. He has failed to establish himself as a regular.
Despite being fit for the majority of the 2023/24 season, the attacking midfielder only featured in 16 first-team games, and he did not even rack up over 500 minutes. With Mikel Merino joining the club from Real Sociedad soon and amid the emergence of Ethan Nwaneri, Vieira is unlikely to get any game time at Arsenal in the new season.
Mikel Arteta already has a lot of quality in the centre of the park and despite the former Portuguese youth international’s ability to feature in multiple positions, the Arsenal manager cannot guarantee him minutes. As a result, the North London club have been looking to send him out on a temporary basis so that he gets regular first-team football.
FC Porto to re-sign Vieira on loan
A move away from Arsenal will help him get things back on track as he has only played a limited amount of minutes in the last two seasons and has also struggled with injuries. FC Porto are keen on adding more firepower to their attack, they want a creative midfield and have been working on a deal to bring Vieira back to the club.
They have an agreement in place with the Gunners to bring their academy graduate back to the club. He joined FC Porto back in 2008 and came up the ranks at some pace. He made his debut back in 2020 and went on to feature in 76 matches for their first team before joining Arsenal.
While he is back at his parent club, it is a straightforward loan deal without any buy option as reported by Fabrizio Romano. Fabio Vieira will be back at the North London club next summer with his contract running until 2027.
