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It looks inevitable that Arsenal will end up offloading Fabio Vieira next summer once he returns from a loan spell at Porto, according to Charles Watts.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Watts explained that in theory it may be that Vieira still has a chance to make a comeback at the Emirates Stadium, though it looks unlikely.

Arsenal didn’t include a purchase option for Porto in their loan deal for Vieira, who has started to impress back in this temporary stint with his former club.

Arsenal have REPLACEMENT lined up for fan-favourite!

The 24-year-old has just scored in back-to-back games for the Portuguese giants, and it could be that he’ll soon start to show the kind of form that makes Mikel Arteta think about reintegrating him.

Still, Watts can’t see it happening due to the rise of homegrown Arsenal wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri in midfield this season, with a permanent exit for Vieira surely more likely.

Fabio Vieira transfer prediction from Arsenal expert Charles Watts

Fabio Vieira in action for Arsenal last season (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Discussing Vieira’s future, Watts said: “It’s good to see Fabio Vieira started to get more game time at Porto after the early injury he picked up there following his loan move.

“He’s clearly a talented player and I hope he has a strong second half to the season and shows everyone why Arsenal invested so much money to bring him to England in the first place.

“I don’t think it is an absolute certainty that his Arsenal career is finished. The fact that the club did not insert any sort of buy option in his loan move suggests that they have not totally washed their hands of him.

“But I would be surprised at this point if he comes back and makes the grade in north London. I still think the most likely option is that he moves on permanently come the end of the season.

“Mikel Arteta admitted that Vieira was allowed to leave so that Ethan Nwaneri could get more minutes this season and Nwaneri has already shown how good he can be, despite still only being 17.

“So Vieira would find himself being Nwaneri in the pecking order next season should he still be around and I can’t imagine he would be too happy with that given his need for game time.

“It just feels like an exit is inevitable and that Arsenal will have to take a fairly big financial hit on a player they spent £34 million on back in 2022.”

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