Arsenal loanee Fabio Vieira produced a dire display for Porto against Al Ahly in the Club World Cup in New Jersey.
The game ended 4-4, with goals from Rodrigo Mora, William Gomes, Samuel Aghehowa and Pepe cancelled out by a hat-trick from Wessem Abou Ali and a strike from Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane.
The result wasn’t enough for Porto to progress into the knockout stages of the competition, with Palmeiras and Inter Miami finishing in the top two in Group A.
As the European team in the group, the Portuguese giants had been expected to comfortably get through into the last 16, and thus the outcome has unsurprisingly been deemed a huge failure in Portuguese media.
Vieira impressed against Inter Miami in Porto’s last match, but the playmaker failed to replicate what he produced in Atlanta, delivering a performance to forget in what could have been his final appearance for his boyhood club.
Fabio Vieira struggles against Al Ahly for Porto at Club World Cup
Vieira struggled in the opening match against Palmeiras when Porto boss Martin Anselmi opted to deploy him in a front three.
Against Miami, the 25-year-old was selected in a deeper role, which got the best out of him as a playmaker.
Despite this, Anselmi reverted to using Vieira as a forward against the Egyptian champions, deploying him to the right of striker Danny Namaso in the first half.
Unsurprisingly, the attacking midfielder struggled to impose himself in this role, managing just 30 touches in his 69 minutes on the pitch before being hooked.
While he did register an assist for Aghehowa from a corner, he also conceded a penalty with a reckless trip inside the box.
Finishing the game having completed just 13 passes, creating no chances from open play and taking just one shot, this was a peripheral display from a player who looked so effective deeper on the pitch against Miami but looks lost in forward areas.
Fabio Vieira will now return to Arsenal but should be sold
Porto reportedly want to sign Vieira permanently, although it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Primeira Liga club’s hierarchy change their minds after watching him in New Jersey.
They are also said to not be optimistic about their ability to pay what Arsenal want for the player, and thus Vieira is now expected to return to London Colney for pre-season training in a matter of weeks.
This therefore may have been his final match in a Porto shirt, and it is certainly a sad way for him to bow out.
The showing summed up exactly why Mikel Arteta cannot rely upon him to provide cover and competition for Martin Odegaard.
While he’s excellent at progressing the ball from deep areas when deployed in midfield, he struggles to provide the creativity in the final third that Arsenal would want from a potential Odegaard back-up.
For this reason, once he returns to N5 this summer, it must be communicated to him that he has no future at Arsenal, and the Gunners must look to cash in.
The North Londoners may have to accept that they will have to sanction a cut-price departure for the player.
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