£34m Arsenal star’s future now in grave danger after huge opportunity blown

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Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira endured a disastrous outing against Burnley. 

Whilst Arsenal beat Burnley 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, Mikel Arteta will be frustrated that Fabio Vieira got himself sent off. 

Vieira can have no complaints about receiving a straight red card. His challenge on Josh Brownhill was dangerous, albeit probably not malicious. Vieira came in late, with his studs at knee height. Fortunately, he only made glancing contact with Brownhill. In any case, referee Michael Oliver had little choice but to dismiss the Portuguese ace. 

After the match, Arteta admitted that the officials got the decision correct. He said, “VAR was right, the referee was right,” as quoted by the club’s official website.

Vieira will now be banned for the next three Premier League matches. He will miss out on trips to Brentford and Luton Town, either side of Wolves coming to the Emirates Stadium.

A huge opportunity is about to pass Fabio Vieira by

Arguably, there could not be a worse sequence of matches for Vieira to miss. Given the relative strength of the opponents, and that Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe are both struggling with fitness issues, Vieira would surely have gotten plenty of game time across these three matches.

The 23-year-old needs a run in the side to prove that he has what it takes to make the grade and shine for Arsenal. This could well have been that run of matches. Now, the £34 million former Porto man will miss out on all of them.

Of course, it is still too soon to entirely write off Vieira. However, after an underwhelming first campaign with the north London club, he needs to step up this time around. 

There were flashes of quality early on in the season, with assists coming against Fulham and Manchester United. There has been precious little from Vieira to get excited about since though. 

If the likes of Odegaard and Smith Rowe can get back to full fitness in good time, and stay that way for the rest of the season, Vieira may quickly find that his opportunities to play are limited. For the chance to lay down a marker, and show that he belongs at Arsenal for the long term, he needed these three matches. This ban could have disastrous consequences for his future at the club.