MARTIN ODEGAARD’S form has been a hot topic after his poor display in Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final first leg 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
But given the club’s injury record and squad make-up this term, the Norwegian is very rarely rested, meaning he must play through bad patches regardless.
Yet it is worth remembering that the Gunners do have a young No.10 on their books, who could have provided back-up, in Fabio Vieira – currently on loan back at boyhood club Porto.
Vieira returned to the Estadio do Dragao back in August having started just three games in all competitions under Mikel Arteta last season.
The £30m splashed on the-then 22-year-old in June 2022 was initially viewed as a positive step to strengthen the squad with a young talent brimming in potential.
Nearly three years on and the Portuguese midfielder looks unlikely to have a future at the Emirates. So, what is the situation?
Porto would love to bring Vieira back to Portugal permanently, especially after his upturn in form this term from January under new boss Martin Anselmi, scoring three goals in the league since then.
But the start to the season under Vitor Bruno was hampered by injury.
Vieira will be staying beyond the end of the regular season to compete in the Club World Cup – a stipulation Porto insisted on when negotiating with Arsenal last summer – but there is no option to buy.
However, there are a few complications.
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While Vieira has enjoyed living back in Portugal, SunSport understands he has not enjoyed a below-par season with Porto, 13 points off league leaders Sporting Lisbon and set to finish fourth, only qualifying them for the Europa Conference League.
Porto are also not in a position to spend this summer, with Arsenal likely to demand close to the £30m they paid for him up front, while Vieira’s wages are also viewed as excessive, something the player is refusing to budge on since arriving in North London.
Arsenal would need to be convinced to let Vieira leave for significantly less than they paid, which is unlikely, and would rather not loan him out for a second successive campaign.
Those negotiations would be led by club president and former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas, but SunSport understands that has not yet happened.
The loan fee to lure Vieira away from Arsenal was believed to be around £750k, with another £600k penalty fee if the player did not play more than half of Porto’s games this season.
Porto have managed to avoid this, with Vieira featuring in 36 of their 43 games so far.
Vieira then is expected to return to Arsenal for pre-season after a few weeks’ rest from the Club World Cup, but could soon be on the move again.
Throughout this season, Arsenal have sent scouts to watch Vieira, but there is believed to be an acceptance that his future lies elsewhere, with several clubs in Europe interested.
And needing to spend big during the upcoming window, Vieira could prove to be a useful sale in raising funds, alongside the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior.
Arsenal will remain patient, however.
Midfielders Thomas Partey and Jorginho are out of contract this summer, while the £51m signing of Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi is yet to be completed, even if it is viewed as a formality inside the club.
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FOXES STAR AN OPTION?
Speaking of midfielders, there have been links to Leicester City’s 20-year-old Moroccan playmaker Bilal El Khannouss following the club’s Prem relegation.
A £21m signing from Genk in August, he has shone in a woeful team, having made nearly 100 senior appearances in the Belgian top flight as a teenager.
Much like Vieira, there have been concerns about El Khannouss’ physicality, described as a “tiny, slight boy, very thin” at Genk, but with incredible technique and vision.
One academy coach summed it up: “I used to tell people that he had eyes in his back.”
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He is not the player Arsenal fans will have in mind when it comes to one of their biggest transfer windows in years this summer.
But could be a useful squad addition, one that could come at a bargain price with the Foxes desperate for cash now they are in the Championship.
Leicester manager Rudd van Nistelrooy said earlier this season: “His potential is there to be a top player in the Champions League. He can go a long way.”
But for now, he has only produced two goals and three assists in 25 starts this term.
And he is behind both Odegaard and Vieira when it comes to chances created, shots and passes per 90 minutes, as well as passing accuracy, passes into the box and crosses.
The one area he does impress is in duels, competing in 9.7 per 90 minutes – more than Odegaard [7.7] and Vieira [9.5] – and winning 48.8 per cent of them.
TICKETS FOR PARIS
PSG fans are confident their team will be making it through to the Champions League final so demand for Wednesday’s semi-final against Arsenal has rocketed.
Tickets in the home areas for the clash at the Parc des Princes are going for between £424 and £5100 on ticket reselling sites.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have only been given 2000 tickets for the away end at £51.30 each.
That is 500 below the five per cent away teams are entitled to by Uefa in European competitions and Arsenal have complained.
PSG, though, were given special dispensation to reduce that to 4.1 per cent before the start of the season owing to a request from local police.
At those online prices, you won’t get any Arsenal fans trying to get into the home areas.
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BAD OMENS
Arsenal fans who believe a “remontada” is on the cards to reach the Champions League final later this month, you may want to look away now.
In the history of the Champions League, since 1992, only seven sides have lost the home leg of a two-legged knock-out tie and still gone through:
Ajax (against Panathinaikos) in 1996, Inter Milan (against Bayern Munich) in 2011, Ajax (against Real Madrid) in 2019, Manchester United (against PSG) in 2019, Tottenham (against Ajax) in 2019, PSG (against Barcelona) in 2024 and PSG (against Liverpool) again this year.
Of the 105 times the away team has won the first leg, 98 of them have ended up going through, which is 93.3 per cent of the time.
The Parisians may have been victims of this once before against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United, but they are the only team to go through TWICE after losing a home leg, so they know what it takes, and know how to avoid it happening to them.
In other words, Arsenal need to pull off a minor miracle to reach the final in Munich.
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HAV A BABY
In lighter news, several of Arsenal’s injured and suspended players were at the Emirates to watch the PSG clash, including Thomas Partey, Riccardo Calafiori, Jorginho and Kai Havertz.
The latter – German international Havertz – was seen in the stands during the match with his wife Sophia and baby boy, who was only born back in March.
And at full-time, Havertz and Sophia were spotted walking through the Emirates car park by the Uefa interview mixed zone with a pram, chatting to Arsenal fans and looking in good spirits.
Havertz is trying to make it back for the end of the season following hamstring surgery.
But he is believed to be enjoying the down time with his new young family as well.
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