Well, Fabio Vieira to Arsenal has been confirmed.
Kind of.
Porto announced this morning that they have sold their 22-year-old midfielder to Arsenal in a £35 million deal, though the Gunners have not confirmed anything yet.
If and when the North Londoners make this official, well it’s a ridiculous piece of business.
Yes, £35 million is a lot of money.
However, Vieira is truly a magician and, at 22, there’s no telling how exceptional he could be for Arsenal down the years.
This past season, he managed six goals and 14 assists from only 15 league starts for Porto.
In all competitions, he set up 16 goals – two more than Kevin de Bruyne managed for Manchester City last season – and it genuinely does look like Edu has found a gem here.
Of course, that isn’t to say he’s going to be the North Londoners’ equivalent of De Bruyne, who is one of the finest playmakers in Premier League history.
But at his age, there is an enormous ceiling, a lot of room for Vieira to improve and it’ll be fascinating to see how he fares at the Emirates Stadium.
Again, if it is indeed 100 percent complete.
It took a while for Edu and Mikel Arteta to get their summer business started – well, in comparison to their domestic rivals – but Fabio Vieira to Arsenal is a very exciting start.
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