Amid all the talk of who Andrea Berta might buy during his first transfer window at Arsenal, it’s been a little forgotten that he will have to oversee several departures too.
Kieran Tierney has already agreed to re-join Celtic once his Arsenal contract expires this summer, and Jorginho is set to leave on a free too.
Thomas Partey’s Arsenal future is undecided as things stand, but it seems as if Berta’s arrival has edged towards the 31-year-old staying.
Jakub Kiwior wants to leave Arsenal despite the club’s attempts to keep the centre-back.
And then there’s also the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko who could be targeted throughout the summer given his position on the periphery of Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Raheem Sterling and Neto will also depart the Emirates once their loans end — there could be considerable upheaval in N5.
Arsenal need to sell Fabio Vieira
That being said, Fabio Vieira will return to Arsenal from his season-long loan at FC Porto this summer.
Vieira has thrived at Porto at times, the attacking midfielder is now playing a deeper role under the club’s new manager and it’s suiting his skill-set superbly.
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However, it’s not currently believed that Porto will have the finances available to buy the midfielder permanently, who cost Arsenal £34m in 2022.
Therefore, Vieira is set to return to Arsenal as things stand, a 24-year-old who clearly has a lot of ability.
And although it might be tempting to imagine what Vieira could do as an eight or maybe even as a six for Arsenal — it’s simply time to cut ties.
Arsenal need all the funds they can get this summer and it’s time to sell Vieira, even if he remains popular with fans in north London.
Ethan Nwaneri is ready to shine at Arsenal
In truth, Vieira could still probably thrive in the role occupied by Martin Odegaard on the right of Arteta’s midfield three.
However, that’s already a position which Ethan Nwaneri will be gunning for, and perhaps even Max Dowman in a few years’ time.
In fact, Arsenal should sign Vieira’s Porto teammate before considering keeping the 24-year-old himself.
Arteta seemed very keen to create a pathway for Nwaneri when he sold Emile Smith Rowe in the summer and also allowed Vieira to leave on loan, and nothing should have changed there.
It remains to be seen what options Arsenal might have to sell Vieira in the summer — perhaps a permanent route for his departure might not be available.
However, any loan should include an obligation to buy this time around.
