£34m failure will never play for Arsenal again

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has not been afraid to make early substitutes in recent weeks. Just ask Eberechi Eze.

The manager revealed that Eze was upset after being sent off at half-time in the 1-1 draw with Brentford. Of course it is.

But this summer’s big-money signing responded strongly, scoring twice in a frenetic win over Spurs just nine days ago.

British athletes were not the only victims of early submarine attacks. Martin Odegaard was sent off before the end of back-to-back games against Nottingham Forest and Manchester United before suffering another injury.

The latest victim of that curse is Leandro Trossard. The Belgian has simply not raced in recent weeks.

Arsenal’s left wing challenges

In one game, Arteta will start for Trossard. Gabriel Martinelli will be the starter for the next game. The end result is often the same. Lack of final product and frustrating performance.

However, the campaign has not been a total waste for the Belgian and Martinelli. The former has had a fiery start to the 2025/26 season, scoring eight goals and providing six assists in the first 22 games.

Meanwhile, the latter currently has 11 goals and is aiming for his best season since 2022-23. However, in 2026, they are having a very difficult time, especially in league play.

Trossard has not scored a goal in 14 games this year, while his fellow Brazilian has not found the back of the net in nine Premier League games. He has scored at least five goals in cup competitions, all of which came against lesser opponents: Portsmouth, Kairat Almaty and Wigan Athletic.

Arsenal may have put a lot of effort into strengthening their squad last summer, but there is still one glaring weakness at the Emirates Stadium, and that is down the left flank. It’s not a new problem either. There were red flags for them last season when they each scored 10 goals. Considering Trossard played in 56 games and Martinelli played in 51, it wasn’t enough.

So, regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season, the Gunners will need to source an upgrade on their left flank in the summer.

Acquiring Martinelli or Trossard could help fund new signings, but who else is at risk of leaving in the coming months?

A £34m deal appears to have been completed at Arsenal.

Arteta doesn’t need to gut his team. There’s a reason it’s hailed as the best in Europe. However, some players are paying the price for increasing their position on the team.

Ethan Nwaneri and Miles Lewis-Skelly are the frontrunners, but from a more senior standpoint, the future of Ben White and Gabriel Jesus looks bleak. He was once a key part of this Arsenal team and it would not be surprising to see them move on once the transfer window opens.

Some are on loan. Jakub Kivioglu is set to sign permanently with Porto in a £13m deal negotiated when he first left for Portugal. Speaking of Portugal, Fabio Vieira should also be permanently transferred.

Vieira’s time at Arsenal has been quite strange. Arteta, who signs for £34m in 2022, revealed he is “very excited” to sign the young Portuguese attacking midfielder.

Signed from Portugal’s top flight, he scored six goals and provided 16 assists in his final season at the club, leading some to believe he could become Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes.

But things never worked out in north London. It’s debatable whether he was given a fair chance to prove what he can do, but what’s not debatable is how poorly this contract was. Is Arteta the worst? Considering the price, he’s definitely up there.

Vieira scored a fantastic goal against Brentford in his debut year with the Gunners, but he started just three league games that season and hardly kicked the ball.

Rather, it was during his time in English football. In the 2023/24 season, he played just 301 minutes in the Premier League and started twice. As a result, it was no surprise that the attacking midfielder was loaned out last season.

However, the Portuguese player hardly had a productive season with his boyhood club after his return to Porto. In fact, the 25-year-old played in 42 games and recorded six assists, but found the back of the net just five times.

As a result, Vieira will be loaned out again for the 2025/26 season. To his credit, he made an even bigger splash this season when he was on loan at Hamburg in the Bundesliga.

It has been far from a rough season for the Arsenal loanee, who has been involved in eight goals in 18 league games, scoring four goals and providing four assists. He has been in particularly good form recently, scoring in quick succession against Mainz and RB Leipzig. In fact, the creative midfielder has scored three goals in his last four games, most notably beating the goalkeeper against Bayern Munich a few weeks ago.

It would not be too surprising if the German side activated their option to sign the player, who was subsequently hailed as “one of the signings of the Bundesliga season” by journalist Josh Bunting, worth around £17.5m.

While this is not a mind-boggling sum for Arsenal, it could mean significant cash for Andrea Berta. Vieira should not be included as Arsenal look to further strengthen their squad. He’s even more expendable than Trossard, Martinelli or White.

He will have to compete for minutes with the likes of Nwaneri and Max Dauman, not to mention his average performances in recent years. Both should be prioritized.

Unfortunately for the £34 million investment, it looks like he has already played his last game for Arsenal. After the games in Porto and Hamburg, any hopes of returning to the team disappeared.