Exit interviews: Fabio Vieira

Does the Portuguese midfielder belong at Arsenal?

Exit Interviews is a series where Scott and Adam share their opinions on next steps for select Arsenal players. The series will run through early June.

Fabio Vieira joined Arsenal this past summer in a shock move for £30 million. Despite having played just one full season for FC Porto, the hype train was quick to play up the diminutive midfielder, with some prominent online personalities declaring him a threat to Martin Ødegaard.

With the season now at an end, the pendulum has swung back and forth on Fabio from gushing praise to ardent disdain.

Does Fabio deserve to be moved on? Does he have a place at Arsenal?

Adam: I’m very even-keel on Fabio Vieira. I’d honestly say that the take machine has been running a little hot on this player, and that many have been far too quick to dismiss him. That doesn’t mean he won’t eventually be moved on, but I don’t think we’ve seen enough to make any firm ruling either way.

Some of the criticism reminds me of what I was hearing about Martin Ødegaard in 2021 and even into 2022 - he hides from duels, feet are too slow, just having a final ball isn’t enough. While Fabio is certainly smaller than the Arsenal captain, Ødegaard did also have the benefit of learning on the job as a starter throughout his loan spell, and then again as a full time starter after his deal was made permanent.

Vieira wasn’t always great in the Europa League, for example his performance at home against Sporting was disappointing, but I’m not quick to judge bench players on those games. The same could have been said about Eddie Nketiah, but he looked much better when called into action with the starters and in games those players cared more about.

I’d say Vieira made four lengthy appearances next to engaged starters this season. Two were very encouraging - his start against Brentford and his game replacing an injured Xhaka against Wolves. One was so-so, against Bournemouth. And his start against Southampton was poor.

Is that enough for me to say this player will never be good for Arsenal? Definitely not.

So what to do about Fabio? Some have called for a loan, but unless that’s at a Premier League club who’ll start him regularly, I don’t see a benefit.

I think Arsenal need to keep this player and allow him to play his true position, which is Ødegaard’s role, not Xhaka’s. He needs two duel winners in midfield with him, same as MØ. That’s the role he performed best in at Porto, not part of a double pivot or on a wing. And I think with the addition of Champions League football, Fabio should get more chances in lower level league games, as well as against lower European opponents and in cup games. And based on what I saw at Porto, I think he can make himself a valuable bench player.

And of course, some time in the weight room and a full preseason will only help.

Verdict: Keep him and start him in 7-8 league games, 2 group stage Champions League games and all early-round cup games.

Scott:

Fabio Vieira has seen the full gamut of opinions this season. He had some early season hype that saw people wondering if he was coming for Martin Ødegaard’s spot, some up-and-down Europa League performances, and then some performances with memorable moments where he looked timid (in otherwise fine matches).

Of all the different opinions of him, I come down as this was a 5 out of 10 first year. He had a few really good moments where he flashed his skills, he had a few moments where he looked understrength and out of depth, and a lot of moments that were just fine. He played a bit less than I would have hoped but it was also a season where instead of challenging for the top four, Arsenal spent most of the season in first place.

I will say that I think his best position, like Adam is in the right midfielder role, rather than the left. On the depth chart that is where I am penciling him in but still in the backup role where I really don’t see him being a real rotation option with Ødegaard right now.

My working depth chart right now as we go into the summer, lots of holes to fill

I don’t think there is in the current squad numbers where the team can realistically loan or sell him right now, given the other work that I think is needed to do with the addition of the Champions League. If Granit Xhaka weren’t leaving there might be room to have him explore alternatives.

I think it is too early to give up on a young player who is in the first year in a new league. I am basically repeating the same point I made with Emile Smith Rowe: Give him a pre-season and then up until the winter to see what he can do.

Verdict: Keep, and re-evaluate in the winter