Will Fábio Vieira break into the starting XI?

Fabio Vieira



By Oli Dickson Jefford

So much has been made of Arsenal’s positive start to the season and the success that new signings have had since their arrival.

Gabriel Jesus has been a standout performer in the campaign so far, while Oleksandr Zinchenko has also impressed since they both arrived from Manchester City this summer.

The success of Jesus and Zinchenko has meant that the arrival of Fábio Vieira has not attracted anywhere near as much attention as it could have done.

The Portuguese only made his debut with a brief cameo in this weekend’s 3-1 loss to Manchester United, having been consigned to the bench in matches before that.

With €40m having been spent on the 22-year-old midfielder, Arsenal fans will be keen to see more of him in the coming months.

However, in a competitive squad, can he break through and become a first team regular?

Attacking strength

Vieira’s talent has been hailed by many and he could become a truly great player, but he is not a player that can address Arsenal’s most glaring issue.

The Gunners’ main vulnerability last season and at the start of this season has been their holding midfield, which looks flaky at times and is something United took advantage of.

Granit Xhaka has had a solid start to this season but with Thomas Partey injured and Albert Sambi Lokonga inconsistent, this was where they needed to strengthen.

Instead, Mikel Arteta finds himself with an abundance of attacking midfield and forward talent.

Vieira



The fact that Emile Smith Rowe - Arsenal’s breakout start last season - has barely had a look in this campaign shows just how much depth there is with the likes of Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli all in contention to start.

With the season starting so positively, Arteta is unlikely to have a dramatic shake up of his starting XI, meaning Vieira may struggle to feature regularly. 

Hectic schedule 

Despite a settled starting XI, the busy coming months may work to the Portuguese’s advantage.

With the season reshuffled due to the winter World Cup in Qatar, Arsenal face playing twice a week for a few months as they look to balance their league campaign alongside the Europa League.

This may mean that Vieira will get a few opportunities sooner rather than later as Arteta, much like all managers, will need to make changes every so often to keep his squad fresh and injury-free.

Any opportunity the 22-year-old does get will provide him with a stage to show his ability and potentially become someone who is one of the first names on Arteta’s team sheet.

Will he break through?

The upcoming heavy schedule means that Vieira will also certainly get first team opportunities in the coming months.

Whether that is in domestic or European football remains to be seen, but Arteta will need to reshuffle at times and Vieira will surely be at the forefront of that.

However, whether the midfielder does enough to become a first team regular once the season is back to normal remains to be seen.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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