Arsenal have made a u-turn with one player they previously wanted to keep – and will sell him this summer.
The Gunners are in Champions League action tonight as they travel to the Bernabeu with a 3-0 first-leg lead over Real Madrid in the competition's quarter-finals, as manager Mikel Arteta looks to make history and win first-ever European title for the club.
While Arsenal are hopefully finishing the season with a flourish in Europe, however, attention has turned to the summer transfer window already – with plenty of areas of improvement across the squad.
Arsenal are looking to improve in midfield, with a sale on the cards for one player
Arsenal's midfield is set for serious reinforcement in the transfer window, with no.6s, Jorginho and Thomas Partey, looking like leaving on free transfers.
Martin Zubimendi is expected to arrive at the Emirates Stadium, but with Arsenal losing two attacking midfielders last summer – in Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe – Arteta only promoted Ethan Nwaneri, who's spent most of the season playing on the right wing in the absence of Bukayo Saka.
Vieira struggled for game-time while N5, showing his considerable potential in glimpses, re-joining Porto on loan for the season last summer – but tellingly, there was no option to buy the no.10 included in the move.
It was previously thought that Vieira would return to Arsenal this summer to fight for a place – but now, Portuguese publication A Bola via Sport Witness says that Arsenal are opposed to another loan move and want to recoup the €35 million they spent on Vieira in 2022.
The 24-year-old has rediscovered his form back in Portugal, netting three in the last six fixtures and laying on an assist against Roma in the Europa League, in the game before that.
FourFourTwo understands that the emergence of Nwaneri is a major factor as to why Arsenal are resigned to cutting ties with Vieira, with Arteta viewing the 17-year-old Hale End graduate as the future of his midfield – while Myles Lewis-Skelly is seen as a no.8 long-term, rather than a left-back.
The Gunners currently have Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling as options in the three-man frontline, with the latter two both expected to leave this summer.
It's expected that Arsenal will be bringing in a new centre-forward to challenge Havertz but another winger may sign, too, seeing Nwaneri feature more as a no.10 next term, more as an alternative to Odegaard.
Nico Williams has been linked extensively with a move to North London, while the introduction of another winger will allow Arteta to plot a clearer pathway for another academy graduate in the form of 15-year-old Max Dowman – who was ranked at no.47 in FourFourTwo's list of the most exciting teenagers to watch this season, and could be given a first-team debut as quickly as next season, after training with the first-team squad on a number of occasions during this campaign.
Vieira is valued at €22m by Transfermarkt.
