Arsenal loanee returns from injury in time for Manchester United clash | OneFootball

Fabio Vieira is back from injury with FC Porto, and he could make the first start of his second spell with the club against Manchester United.

Fabio Vieira with FC Porto (Photo via Forca.Dragoes on Instagram)

Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira joined FC Porto on loan for the season in late August, but the 24-year-old didn’t feature for the club for the first month of his spell.

Sidelined with an injury, Vieira was only able to make his first matchday squad against Arouca on Sunday.

But Porto didn’t hang about getting the loanee involved, bringing him off the bench for 21 minutes in their 4-0 win.

LONDON, ENGLAND: Fabio Vieira of Arsenal looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Arsenal and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Emirates Stadium on August 07, 2024. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Now fit and available again, Vieira will hope for another appearance in Porto’s next fixture, which happens to be a Europa League match against Manchester United at home.

United made a less than ideal start to their Europa League campaign by drawing to Twente at home last week, so they’ll want to get back to winning ways now.

But Porto have a similar motivation, having lost to FK Bodo Glimt in their own opening fixture.

Given Vieira only returned to Porto’s squad four days ago, it may be too soon for him to make the starting lineup for such a big game. But you can hardly imagine a better platform for the player to kickstart his loan spell.

Fabio Vieira during his first spell with Porto, celebrating after scoring a goal during the Portuguese league football match between FC Porto and SL Benfica at the Dragao stadium in Porto on December 30, 2021. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP via Getty Images)

During his first spell with Porto, Vieira scored 10 goals and assisted 18 more. He did so in 76 appearances, but just 29 starts, having often featured as a substitute in his first few seasons.

To put his goal contributions in ‘per minute’ terms, Vieira was scoring or assisting every 100 minutes for Porto. If he can replicate that this season with a more regular starting role, he should return to Arsenal with a lot of confidence.