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LONDON. — The surname is familiar, the talent — for now at least — an enigma. That will surely not remain the case for long. In Fabio Vieira, Arsenal have landed a young footballer of the highest pedigree.
Mikel Arteta has been a key influence in this signing. Although Vieira’s progress had been tracked by Arsenal’s wider recruitment team, it was ultimately the manager’s conviction about the player that pushed this deal through.
The speed of the club’s move to complete the transfer took even some Arsenal staff by surprise. It did not prove a difficult negotiation: a fee of €35 million plus €5 million in add-ons was ultimately considered reasonable, especially as it fell some way below the player’s buy-out clause. Privately, some close to Porto insist that Arsenal have got themselves a bargain.
Vieira undoubtedly fits the recent profile of Arsenal signing, though. Although only just 22, he has an old head on young shoulders. In some respects, he was regarded as one of the leaders of a brave new generation at Porto. After he scored a brace in a 3-0 win over Santa Clara, Porto assistant coach Vitor Bruno said simply: “Fabio Vieira has the intelligence of wise old men.”
For many English scouts, Vieira first appeared on the radar at the 2019 UEFA Youth League. The final saw an impressive Porto side come up against Chelsea. The Londoners’ line-up included Tariq Lamptey, Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher — it was their second final in succession, having faced Barcelona the year before. Porto’s team included goalkeeper Diogo Costa, now a full Portugal international, and Fabio Silva, currently of Wolves.
But it was the slight 18-year-old in the centre of the midfield, Vieira, who most caught the eye. He ghosted into the box to open the scoring after 17 minutes, and his intelligent play helped Porto secure a 3-1 victory.
“It is a victory of a squad, of a structure, of a club,” said Porto’s proud coach Mario Silva. “We were the first club in Portugal to achieve it.” Silva added that the names of Vieira and his team-mates would be “recorded in the history of Portuguese football”. And they were added to the notebooks of Europe’s top talent-spotters, too. Some of Europe’s biggest clubs sat up to take an interest in Vieira. He continued to impress for Porto’s B team, and a breakthrough into the first team wasn’t too far behind. He made his senior debut shortly after turning 20, racking up a few cameo appearances as Porto completed a domestic double. In 2020-21, he became a regular member of the match-day squad, even starting high-profile Champions League games against Manchester City and Olympiakos. — The Athletic
Online Reporter