ARSENAL have been told to lower their demands for Fabio Vieira as they attempt to offload several players before the end of the transfer window.
The Gunners have spent around £200million on new signings this summer, including £63.5m on Viktor Gyokeres, £51m on Martin Zubimendi and £42m on Noni Madueke.
GettyFabio Vieira is one of several Arsenal players who want to leave the club this summer[/caption]
GettyHe was signed from Porto for £30million in 2022 but has never really been a mainstay[/caption]
ReutersMikel Arteta is aware he has to get some players out of the door before the window shuts[/caption]
They remain interested in more arrivals, with Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze still a target despite his links to Tottenham.
However, despite having a lot of headroom regarding PSR regulations, they are tight on Uefa Financial Fair Play rules.
Several fringe players will need to be sold to rectify this, and Portuguese midfielder Vieira has been lined up as one of those.
The 25-year-old has fallen out of favour under boss Mikel Arteta, shipped out on loan to Porto last season – the club they bought him from in the summer of 2023 for around £30m.
Vieira is back training at London Colney but was omitted from the squad that secured a 1-0 Prem opening day victory at Manchester United on Sunday.
Arsenal want to recoup as much of that £30m as possible, but that is proving a tough task in this window, even after dropping their demands to around £25m.
Porto president Andre Villas Boas was in touch with the North Londoners over a permanent return for Vieira earlier this summer after making 42 appearances in all competitions last term, but they are not in a financial position to give Arsenal what they want.
Bundesliga side Stuttgart are also monitoring the situation. They are eyeing Vieira as a replacement for 23-year-old Frenchman Enzo Millot, who has recently joined Saudi side Al-Ahli for around £24m, which could rise to £26m with add-ons.
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SunSport understands that the Germans would only be willing to pay around £17m including add-ons for Vieira.
Arsenal are willing to hold out for the right price, but Stuttgart are prepared to move on to other targets should negotiations break down.
What did we learn about Arsenal in Man Utd victory?
VIKTOR GYOKERES was given a reality check on his Arsenal debut as the £63.5million striker failed to have a shot against Manchester United.
SunSport’s Charlie Wyett assesses the Arsenal’s Premier League opener…
NEW SIGNINGS
VIKTOR GYOKERES has room for improvement, putting it mildly.
His last competitive game in this country was the 2023 Championship play-off final between Coventry and Derby and his Premier League debut will also be a day he will be keen to forget.
He worked hard enough and did try and get in behind the United defence but the Swede was given little service in what was a poor performance from the title hopefuls.
Gyokeres was decent in the Emirates Cup win over Athletic Bilbao which shows you exactly why we should never take too much from pre-season.
Against Manchester United, the striker who is supposed to turn Arsenal into title winners, while admittedly getting very little service, failed to even have a shot.
The £63.5million signing didn’t contribute much to make up for his lack of threat up top either.
For all he ran and tried to assert himself, Gyokores only managed to complete four passes to his new team-mates, while giving the ball away five times.
Mikel Arteta is hoping the former Sporting Lisbon man can be the dominant presence that Arsenal have been missing up front.
But here the 27-year-old won just three duels against United’s unheralded defence, losing ten.
SET-PIECES
NEW season, new set-piece routine.
Since the start of 2023-24, Arsenal have scored 31 Premier League goals from corners – at least 11 more than any other side.
Although Arsenal’s first goal of the season was thanks to Altay Bayindir’s clanger, Arteta used a different type of routine.
We had seen this a few times in pre-season with five players lining up on the edge of the penalty although the goal came from Riccardo Calafiori who was already lurking near the back post and was able to get the final touch.
The one thing that might really hurt Arsenal offensively this season is the new clampdown on pushing and shoving in the penalty area, something they do a lot.
Although both teams were guilty of grappling with opposing players, Simon Hooper let a few things go – but not all officials will be the same.
NEXT UP – LEEDS
ARTETA will have plenty to ponder before sending his team out to face newly-promoted Leeds at the Emirates on Saturday evening.
Although battles against Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle are on the horizon in a nasty opening sequence of fixtures, Arsenal will be expected to deliver a much better performance than what we saw at Old Trafford, where they were incredibly lucky to win.
This game will give Gyokeres a terrific chance to score his first goal in the Premier League.
Equally, Zubimendi should keep his place although already, Gabriel Martinelli surely knows his place is under threat with Madueke itching to make an impression.
Although he scored the winner, Calafiori kept going walkabout at left back leaving Gabriel Magalhaes exposed on the left of central defence.
This is why Myles Lewis-Skelly, who will probably have been peed off in not starting this game, might be given a run-out against Daniel Farkes’ team.
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Left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko has also been linked with a move away, recently admitting to feeling “shame” in the “worst season” of his professional career after being dropped by Arteta for Myles Lewis-Skelly last campaign, making just five Prem starts.
Borussia Dortmund have previously been linked to the Ukrainian, while Fenerbahce and Real Betis have shown interest.
Arsenal paid £32m including add-ons for Zinchenko from Manchester City in the summer of 2022, but are unlikely to get that fee back for the 28-year-old who has suffered injury issues during his Emirates stay so far.
Arteta would love Zinchenko to stay on as an experienced head in the dressing room, offering depth to the left-back position, but he is currently third choice behind Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori – the Italian starting and scoring the winner against United.
Zinchenko was also left out of the squad that travelled to Old Trafford with his future up in the air, and the same can be said for Polish centre back Jakub Kiwior.
Arsenal believe the time could be right to cash in on Kiwior, whose stock has never been higher after impressing when stepping in for the injured Gabriel in the latter stages of last term.
The 25-year-old joined Arsenal from Spezia in January in a deal worth £20m including add-ons, and there is a belief they can sell him for a similar figure with AC Milan keeping tabs on the defender.
Porto have also not given up hope on luring him to Portugal, despite already reinforcing their back line with the £6.5m arrival of Jan Bednarek from Southampton.
Should Kiwior leave, it is unlikely Arteta will look for a centre back replacement given that they have already signed 21-year-old Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia for an up-front fee of around £13m with £3.5m in add-ons, while Calafiori can also fill in if needed.
Winger Reiss Nelson and midfielder Albert Sambi Lokongo were also missing from the squad at United and work is being done to find them a new home too, but the pair are not expected to bring in significant fees.
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