Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano doesn’t rule out surprise Arsenal exit in January transfer window

Fabrizio Romano would not entirely rule out the prospect of Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira moving on loan to Marseille in the January transfer window.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his column in the Daily Briefing, Romano explained that it’s currently too early to tell for sure what would happen with Vieira this winter, though it seems there is some possibility that things will be clarified soon.

One issue for the moment is that Marseille are about to make a change at board level by bringing in Mehdi Benatia as their new sporting director, while it seems Arsenal have also not yet decided which players they could be letting go in the next transfer window.

“Marseille have been linked with an interest in signing Fabio Vieira on loan, but it’s too early to say on this one,” Romano said.

“Arsenal have not decided anything yet on players to leave in January and also OM have still no director; it will be Mehdi Benatia, who is set to be announced this week, but it’s still early to negotiate for players.”

Vieira hasn’t played regularly for the Gunners so it could be that Mikel Arteta will be prepared to let him leave, though one imagines most fans would rather see the talented young Portuguese playmaker stay as part of the squad.

The 23-year-old could have a big future ahead of him once he manages to find more consistency, and it might be that a loan move would be the ideal next step for his development, but it also carries some risks as Arsenal don’t have the deepest squad in the world.