**West Ham have been linked with Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira in recent days.**
You likely haven’t heard the name Fabio Vieira for a while, and that’s because he’s been on loan from Arsenal for the last couple of years, with Porto in 2024/25, before joining Hamburg for the 25/16 season.
His return to Porto probably didn’t go as well as he would have wanted as they didn’t buy him permanently. However, he was far from bad. In 27 starts and 42 appearances in all competitions he managed 5 goals and 6 assists.
However, last seasons loan at Hamburg was more successful for the 26-year-old, the German outfit want to make his move permanent this summer, and Vieira too would be keen on a permanent switch.
In 29 starts and 31 appearances last season, Vieira managed 7 goals and 6 assists, a very decent tally for a newly promoted side that finished 13th in the Bundesliga.
Vieira averaged 1.3 key passes a match in the Bundesliga last season which would have placed him first in the West Ham squad, just ahead of Jarrod Bowen who was just behind on 1.2, but there wasn’t another player who averaged over a key pass a game for the Hammers.
The Arsenal man’s numbers may have been effected by the fact he played out on the right a lot last season, but he flourishes in the middle where he would be playing most of his minutes should he sign, but it’s good to see he is versatile and can play elsewhere.
This is exactly the type of midfielder West Ham need, he might not be the creative monster we all want to see, but that probably won’t be possible to find while we’re in the Championship.
Vieira is a player that can get in the pockets, pick a pass, dribble through tight spaces, wins fouls which we will miss from Summerville, he can take set pieces, and likes to shoot from distance which will be handy against low blocks.
He isn’t going to contribute too much to the defensive side of the game, his physicality is lacking to say the least and tackling and discipline aren’t exactly good points to his game. However, unless he’s going to play central midfield in a 4-4-2 that won’t be a problem.
So, if he wants Vieira to play in the role Lamadrid has been playing in pre-season he might not be the man to solve our lack of creativity problem in the middle of the park.
The rumours are suggesting Vieria wants the move to Hamburg to happen. Arsenal are said to want £10 million for his signature which could be a problem for the German side, but it certainly shouldn’t be an issue for us.
Vieira’s agency is none other than agent and friend of Nuno Espirito Santo, Gestifute’s Jorge Mendes. So, the chances of convincing a player like Fabio Vieira to drop down to the Championship have increased with that relationship.
It will be interesting to see what happens, but we need to get a creative midfielder in before the beginning of the new season.