'Not the case' - Fabrizio Romano issues update on Arsenal star's future amid loan exit

A number of Arsenal players face uncertain futures following loan departures during the summer transfer window. Several players were offloaded on loan deals during the summer window, with five first-team players and two academy stars departing on temporary deals in all.

Maquinhos, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares, Karl Hein, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira made up the first team departees, and some of those players may never play for the Gunners again. One of the more uncertain cases involves the latter, Vieira, who joined FC Porto on a loan deal for the entirety of the season.

The Portuguese star joined the Gunners from porto back in 2022 for around £30million, but he has only made 33 league appearances for the club to-date, never nailing down a starting spot. Now 24 years of age, Vieira is entering a critical time if he wants to be an Arsenal player in the long-term, and many fans have been left wondering whether he has a future at the club beyond this season.

Naturally, Vieira will have the chance to impress at Porto as he looks to convince Mikel Arteta of his quality, but it’s not easy for loan exitees to battle their way back into contention, given they spend a season training and playing elsewhere. Crucially, though, Arsenal are not ready to make a decision on Vieira, refusing to include an option to buy in the loan deal for that reson,

“Yeah, there are many questions on this one because we had many rumours on Fabio Vieira,” Fabrizio Romano told the Here We Go Podcast. “After he joined Porto on loan from Arsenal, many people starting saying ‘okay, it’s over for Fabio Vieira at Arsenal’. What I’m told is that this is not the case. Arsenal only wanted to do a straight loan with no buy option included, because they want to assess the situation of Fabio Vieira again in one year.”

As thing stand, the attacking midfielder is under contract until 2027.