Injured Arsenal summer signing finally joins full training | OneFootball

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Daily Cannon

·10 August 2022

Injured Arsenal summer signing finally joins full training

Article image:Injured Arsenal summer signing finally joins full training

Fabio Vieira has returned to full training with Arsenal at last, as the summer signing prepares to join in with his new teammates in matches.

After joining Arsenal earlier in the summer, Fabio Vieira initially spent time on the sidelines and in individual training as he recovered from an injury sustained before completing the transfer to North London.

Pictures of Tuesday’s Arsenal training session have confirmed the player is now in full training, as he can be seen competing with the likes of Gabriel Magalhaes and Cedric Soares in a practice match.


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Vieira offers Arsenal options and competition in midfield, which was something they sorely lacked last season, though it remains to be seen exactly where he’ll play.

Most likely, the former FC Porto man will play in one of the two midfield positions occupied by Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard as it stands.

In Odegaard’s case, it would be somewhat of a like-for-like swap, purely to increase the level of competition and to help the Norwegian with his fitness.

But if Vieira comes into the team to replace Xhaka, it would hint at Arsenal opting for a more attacking option in that role on the left of midfield.

With seven goals and 16 assists in 1,990 minutes last season, a goal contribution every 87 minutes, Vieira is clearly a very attack-minded player.

Arsenal would lose some of the defensive solidity provided by Xhaka, but they could gain a lot in the final third. It will be interesting to see if Mikel Arteta is willing to take that trade-off.

The only other realistic option is that Vieira could provide cover on the right-wing for Bukayo Saka, as he occasionally played that role for Porto.

But with Arsenal pursuing Raphinha earlier in the summer and seemingly still in for a winger this month, the signs suggest that’s not where the club see Vieira.

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