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Arsenal's Champions League-chasing XI with Vieira and Tielemans as deal agreed

mirror.co.uk, 17 June 2022, 12:47
The Gunners are poised to announce the arrival of Porto midfielder Fabio Vieira after Porto confirmed that a sale has been agreed, an they remain in the hunt for Leicester's Youri Tielemans

Arsenal are ramping up their summer transfer business with a move for the talented Porto midfielder Fabio Vieira confirmed by the Portuguese club.

At 22 as with just two full seasons of football at Porto to his name, Mikel Arteta will doubtless be keen to point out that Vieira is very much one for the future of the club, but he'll still able to do a pretty decent job in the present.

The Gunners boss is likely to view the young Portuguese as cover for Martin Odegaard, who won't be able to play in almost every Arsenal match again this season due to the sheer number of them.

Indeed, it might be that Vieira is more often seen in the Europa League as he gets to grips with life in London, particularly if Arsenal also complete a move for the Premier League-ready Youri Tielemans.

The Leicester star has just one year left on his contract at the King Power Stadium, and the signs are that he has been ready to move on this summer for quite some time.

Although he remained tight-lipped on his future while away on international duty with Belgium, where the 25-year-old recently scored his fifth goal in 52 international appearances during the recent draw with Wales, Tielemans is said to be holding out for a move to the Gunners, who are hopeful that a deal can be agreed for around £25m.

It is all adding up to be an exciting summer for the Gunners, who have already added Brazilian youngster Marquinhos and remain hopeful of signing Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City.

The latter would be a superb addition, and set the Gunners up perfectly for the new campaign.

As mentioned above, Tielemans would be ready to slot straight into the Arsenal midfield, creating a potential first-choice XI that would give most teams in the Premier League a good game.

It is a side full of pace, creativity, and in the case of the new addition Jesus, goals, with Tielemans adding an energy to midfield that is sometimes sorely lacking when Granit Xhaka plays there.

Vieira needn't be too downhearted about not being in this XI though, as the release of the Premier League fixtures showed on Thursday, this is a hectic season quite unlike most others.

Odegaard featured in 36 of Arsenal's 38 Premier League games last season, but with addition of five substitutes and European commitments to contend with, that is unlikely to be repeated.

Vieira can slot in for the Norwegian if needed, and he can also take his place in a 'second-choice' Gunners XI that could be seen in the early stages of the Europa League, when Arteta is likely to want to rest players in matches that his side will be heavy favourites in.

The signing is certainly one that will be welcomed by the fans, although perhaps not celebrated as much as any captures of Tielemans and Jesus due to the pair's greater fame and knowledge of the Premier League.

They are all signings that give the Gunners greater options though, and that will allow Arteta to sustain a top four challenge across the campaign, making a better fist of things than last season whe his side seemed to run out of legs.

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