James Maddison has gone out of his way to dub Fabio Vieira a "good player" after the Arsenal star put on a masterful display in the Europa League against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night.
Leicester star Madison could have been in the Gunners line-up himself if they had met the Foxes' asking price for him in the summer of 2021, but instead the England international remains at the King Power Stadium, and issued his opinion on Vieira via social media.
Responding to a picture of Arsenal's £35million addition uploaded to Instagram by SPORTbible, Maddison wrote in the comments section: "Why does his neck look so long in this pic", followed by two laughing emojis, but signed off with some praise for the Portuguese midfielder as he added: "good player tho [sic]" and another laughing emoji.
The former Porto talent was undoubtedly the best player on the Emirates pitch as Mikel Arteta's side welcomed the Norwegian outfit in the latest fixture of their Europa League group-stage campaign. Vieira let his opponents know that he was in the mood early on as his fierce left-footed volley thundered off the crossbar.
Bodo were let off the hook on that occasion, but after Eddie Nketiah put Arsenal in front, Vieira started pulling the strings once again. The 22-year-old plucked the ball out of the sky, threw in some dummies and feints for good measure and delivered a pinpoint cross onto the head of Rob Holding.
The defender made no mistake as he guided his effort into the bottom-left corner of the goal to double Arsenal's lead, but it was Vieira's assist that had everyone talking.
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A cross that Kevin De Bruyne would have been envious of, Vieira was the subject of plenty of plaudits at half-time - but things were to get even better for the midfielder.
Shortly before the full-time whistle, Vieira registered his second goal in Arsenal colours as he lashed the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
Much like the second goal of the game, it was the assist that left everyone drooling, as Gabriel Jesus displayed his dazzling dribbling skills to leave most of the Emirates slack-jawed in amazement before putting the chance on a plate for his teammate.
Former Chelsea star Joe Cole was left waxing lyrical about Vieira's showing after the game as part of BT Sport's coverage of the clash.
"Everything he does, he’s one of those technicians where everything is with purpose," the ex-England international said of Vieira. "He’s one of them, an absolute velvet left foot, this kid can do anything. "He’s got the competition in Martin Odegaard, one of club captains, part of the leadership group, but this guy is a fantastic player."
