Fabio Vieira will have a point to prove when Arsenal take on Beyer Leverkusen on Wednesday.
Arsenal will face Bayer Leverkusen at the Emirates Stadium in a pre-season friendly this week, when Granit Xhaka will be welcomed back to North London.
Whilst the result of this face-off with the reigning German champions is of no great consequence, Mikel Arteta will still be keen to see his side get back to winning ways, after they were beaten by Liverpool in the last game of their recent US tour.
The Spanish coach will also take his opportunity to get some vital minutes into the legs of many of his key players. Therefore, he will likely name a very strong starting XI to take on the Bundesliga outfit.
However, the manager will also look to change things up and share the minutes around amongst his players over the course of the match. This means that some game time is likely to come the way of a couple of players who have a point to prove.
Hale End academy wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri will be desperate to impress Arteta if he is given a runout against Bayer Leverkusen. The 17-year-old will want to show that he is ready for more first team involvement this season.
Fabio Vieira also has to show that he can step up and finally become a key player for the Gunners.
Fabio Vieira must show that he can star for Arsenal
Arsenal paid £30 million to sign Vieira from Porto in the summer of 2022. Since then, the playmaker has made 49 appearances for the Gunners, across all competitions, chipping in with 3 goals and 9 assists.
Whilst injuries disrupted his campaign last time around, the Portuguese midfielder has never been able to nail down a regular starting berth in North London. Vieira has shown flashes of quality, and is clearly very technically gifted, but has all too often been bypassed by matches or looked overawed by the physicality of the Premier League.
Vieira has a point to prove v Bayer Leverkusen
Now, though, he needs to step up. Emile Smith Rowe has left Arsenal, leaving a gap to be filled. This is an opportunity for Vieira to raise his game and establish himself as the best option to take up the left-eight midfield role in Arteta’s squad, and that has to start against Bayer Leverkusen.
Vieira must show that he is ready to take on this responsibility, before Arteta is convinced that he needs to sign a new player, who will then push the former Porto man back down in the pecking order again.
Vieira has had two seasons to settle in North London now, and there can be no more excuses. He needs to hit the ground running this season and start repaying the faith Arteta has shown in him.
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