£34million Arsenal Star Eyeing Summer Exit | OneFootball

Arsenal Star Set for Summer Exit

After a season that saw them finish as Premier League runners-up for the third straight year, Arsenal have wasted no time retooling their squad and giving Mikel Arteta more firepower to work with heading into the 2025/26 season. Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jorginho and Thomas Partey have departed the club on free transfers, whilst Marquinhos and Nuno Tavares have completed permanent transfers to Cruzeiro and Lazio. In terms of incomings, Kepa Arrizabalaga has replaced Neto as the club’s backup goalkeeper, whilst Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard have replaced Jorginho and Partey as part of a midfield makeover, whilst Cristhian Mosquera, Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres have also joined.

Plenty of other signings are envisioned as Arsenal look to claim their first major trophy since the 2020 FA Cup. The Gunners have been linked to Real Madrid’s Rodrygo and Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze, with the club keen to reinforce their attack after already splurging £200m. However, in order to add further signings, they’ll likely need to sell fringe players first. Players like Oleksandr Zinchenko, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Reiss Nelson – the latter two returning from loan spells – and Fabio Vieira.

Vieira has struggled to convince since joining Arsenal from Porto in 2022, with Martin Odegaard remaining ahead of him as their first-choice attacking midfielder. Since arriving for €35 million plus €5 million, Vieira has been unable to make the adjustment from Liga Portugal to the Premier League and force himself into Arteta’s plans, prompting the club to loan him out to Porto for the 2024/25 season. He managed to become a key figure in his return to his boyhood club, racking up 5 goals and 6 assists in 42 appearances, but it seems he hasn’t quite done enough to convince them to pursue his signing on a permanent deal. Instead, it seems that a familiar face could be set to throw Vieira a lifeline.

Photo: IMAGO

Potential Move for Vieira

Having served as Arteta’s assistant coach from 2020 to 2025, Carlos Cuesta recently took charge of Serie A side Parma, and he is keen to add to the squad that only just survived the drop last season. It’s being reported that Parma have turned their sights towards Vieira, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, and this could very well prove the happy medium that Vieira is looking for in order to get his career on track.

Vieira has been afforded an extended summer vacation, with the Portuguese midfielder missing out on their preseason training camp in Spain as well as their preseason tour in Singapore. It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll make the move to Parma and reunite with Cuesta in Italy. One thing’s for sure, however: with his Arsenal contract set to expire in 2027, Vieira’s time in London is drawing to a close.