Arsenal didn't sign £30m star because they thought he'd be another Fabio Vieira

Arsenal had an uneventful final few days of the summer transfer window.

Every Gooner on the planet wanted Andrea Berta and Mikel Arteta to sign a world-class attacker, and the duo really tried to make it happen.

After the pursuits of Morgan Rogers and Vinicius Jr proved unsuccessful, Arsenal tried until the end to sign Julian Alvarez, but that didn’t materialise either.

In the end, rumours about another player strongly emerged, but the Gunners didn’t go for it because of what happened in the past.

Arsenal thought Malick Fofana would be another Fabio Vieira

Arsenal signed Fabio Vieira from Porto for around £34 million in the summer of 2022.

The versatile midfielder was one of Portugal’s most impressive players at the time, and many felt the Gunners had pulled off a masterstroke.

Vieira impressed early on in his Arsenal career and showed flashes of his brilliance. As just a backup to Martin Odegaard, he felt like a fine option.

However, as time went on, it became clear that Vieira was not suited for the Premier League, and after a couple of loan spells, he was sold on transfer deadline day.

CBS Sports have now compared the Portuguese playmaker to a player Arsenal were linked with late in the window: Malick Fofana.

The Belgian winger was offered to the Gunners as a bargain option, and people at the club actually considered signing him.

However, in the end, Arsenal decided that he would be another Vieira, in the sense that he would be signed for around £30 million, but instead of flipping him for a profit, they would lose him for about a third of that fee in a few years’ time.

Vieira joined Hamburg for about £8 million on deadline day, while Fofana signed for Sunderland in a £30 million deal.

It remains to be seen if Arsenal’s prediction about the Belgian will come true.