Fabrizio Romano now claims £34m star could leave Arsenal in January

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Fabio Vieira could be set for an unexpected Arsenal exit.

According to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, as quoted by CaughtOffside, there is a chance that Fabio Vieira could leave Arsenal on loan in the upcoming January transfer window, with Marseille keen on him.

Arsenal paid £34 million to sign Vieira from Porto in the summer of 2022. Since his arrival at the Emirates Stadium, there have been flashes of quality from the 23-year-old, but generally he has struggled to impress on a consistent basis.

He is now facing a three match ban, having received a straight red card for a wayward tackle against Burnley last time out. 

Vieira now has 46 appearances for the north London club under his belt, and has chipped in with three goals and nine assists. He is certainly extremely technically gifted, and has plenty of creative ability. However, he is also lightweight physically, and all too often goes missing in matches, becoming a peripheral figure.

Mikel Arteta will have wanted to have seen more from Vieira by this stage in his Arsenal career.

Arsenal cannot risk letting Fabio Vieira leave now

The attacking midfielder has the talent to make himself a star at Arsenal, but things haven’t really clicked for him yet. A loan move to France, and regular starts for Marseille, could do Vieira the world of good in terms of his development. It may also help to raise his market value, should Arteta have decided that the former Porto man has no long-term future with the Gunners. 

That being said, it would be a risky move to allow Vieira to go anywhere in January. Arteta has already had to deal with a number of injuries so far this season, testing the depth of his squad. The likes of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Gabriel Jesus, and Gabriel Martinelli, amongst others, have all been sidelined for varying lengths of time during the current campaign.

Unless Arsenal have a suitable replacement lined up, they can’t afford to let Vieira go mid-season. The Gunners should not be sacrificing any of their depth at this stage. Whilst he may not be pushing for regular starts at present, Vieira will still play an important squad role this season, providing a useful cover and rotation option.

The former Portugal under-21 international needs to now be fully focused on proving his worth at the Emirates Stadium over the course of the rest of the season.