Arsenal's preparations for the new season officially get underway this week and there are a number of senior players who will be hoping to catch Mikel Arteta's eye.
Perhaps nobody more so than Fabio Vieira - especially with Emile Smith Rowe currently away on international duty with the England U21s - as the attacking midfielder had a rather underwhelming first season in north London following a £34 million transfer from Porto last summer.
By no means was the 23-year-old a regular for the Gunners, particularly with regard to Premier League fixtures, but he was afforded opportunities towards the end of the campaign and failed to impress. The game that immediately springs to mind is the 3-3 home draw against Southampton which he started in place of Granit Xhaka.
The concern over his performance was that he was rather anonymous and the fact he was substituted ten minutes into the second half with Arsenal chasing a goal spoke volumes. Still, Arteta stopped short of criticising Vieira that night and has previously maintained his belief that the player will eventually come good.
"I think in front of goal he's been unlucky because in the past two games he could have scored a few goals," the Spaniard said last November. "But every player needs time to adapt obviously. When he played against Brentford away from home and he's surrounded with players he’s more familiar with it's a bit easier.
"We've asked him to play lots of different positions as well because of the needs that we have in the squad. But, I'm not worried at all. He missed a big part because he was injured for two and a half months and he missed the whole preseason and didn't have any pre-season. I think that period in the World Cup is going to make him very good."
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Ultimately, missing pre-season was a major setback for Vieira 12 months ago, but having unexpectedly withdrawn from the Portugal squad for the U21 European Championships due to a medical issue, the positives are that he can have a full pre-season this time around.
"I tried everything to be ready to play for my country," he said. "I love to play for Portugal, but unfortunately it was not possible. I didn’t feel on top to play and help the team and the medical staff agreed. "The most important thing is my health and this precaution was taken to reduce any risks. Now is the time to rest and be 100 per cent ready for pre-season, and next season."
As confirmed by Arsenal, Vieira is on course to be ready to return to full training as the club's non-international players filter back to London Colney following their holidays and this could be the boost the playmaker needs to have a much improved second campaign in England.
The arrival of Kai Havertz from Chelsea in a £65m deal will have an impact on Vieira in terms of midfield role as he could be competing with the German as the left-sided number eight or it might be that he's the understudy to captain Martin Odegaard once again.
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