Mikel Arteta has singled out Fabio Vieira for praise ahead of Arsenal’s return to the Champions League tonight.
Vieira was handed his first start of the season on Sunday as Arsenal picked up a 1-0 win at Goodison Park.
The 23-year-old replaced Kai Havertz in the starting line-up and put in an encouraging display in the middle of the park.
Arteta favoured Granit Xhaka over the Portuguese midfielder last season and has given Havertz a run in the side during the early stages of the current campaign.
Vieira has struggled to nail down a place in Arsenal’s side after making the £34 million switch to North London from Porto last summer.
But it seems that the youngster has impressed Arteta in training lately.
Arteta on Vieira
Speaking to the media ahead of Arsenal’s clash against PSV tonight, Arteta suggested he’s been impressed with Vieira’s performances in training ‘every day’.
“I said many times that I hadn’t played Fabio enough and he hadn’t had enough room in the team with the competitions that we played to participate more,” Arteta said.
“But every day, we see the talent that he’s got and what he can bring to the team. I was really happy with his performance at the weekend.” as quoted by Arsenal’s official website.
Vieira has looked the part so far this season, despite being limited to appearances from the bench before Sunday’s 1-0 win at Everton.
It will be interesting to see if Arteta sticks with the midfielder over Havertz, especially with the North London Derby just around the corner.
Arsenal will be fully focused on their clash against PSV tonight as they make their long-awaited return to the Champions League.
But for the time being, Vieira deserves a run in the side as Havertz has struggled to adjust to life at Arsenal so far.
Vieira has already contributed with two assists in the Premier League having only made three appearances.