Why Bournemouth should reignite their interest in Fabio Vieira
Back in June, a report from The Sun had claimed that Bournemouth were interested in securing the services of Portuguese attacking midfielder Fabio Vieira from FC Porto. The Cherries even tabled an opening offer of £5million plus add-ons for the highly-rated 20-year-old but a move to the English south coast eventually failed to materialise for the youngster.
Profile
Fabio Vieira joined Porto’s youth system back in 2008 and made rapid progress. He was an integral part of the club’s U-19 side that beat Chelsea to win the 2018-19 UEFA Youth League. He was promoted to Porto’s reserve side in the same campaign.
Having caught the eye for the reserves in the second-tier, the 20-year-old made his first-team breakthrough during the 2019-20 season. Vieira registered 2 goals and an assist in 8 appearances as Porto won the Primeira Liga title last term.
The left-footed ace has also featured for Portugal at U-18, U-19, and U-21 levels. Vieira played a key role as Portugal finished runners-up to Spain at the 2019 UEFA U-19 European Championship in Armenia.
Vieira would be a good long-term investment for Bournemouth
Bournemouth completed loan deals for Tottenham centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers and Atletico Madrid winger Rodrigo Riquelme in the summer to bolster their squad. They raised plenty of cash from the big-money sales of Aaron Ramsdale, Nathan Ake, and Callum Wilson while star winger Ryan Fraser also departed the Cherries on a free transfer following their relegation from the Premier League.
The Cherries did incredibly well to keep hold of star attackers Joshua King and David Brooks despite widespread interest from the top-flight clubs throughout the summer. But with the club now back in the Championship and challenging for promotion, Jason Tindall needs to start reshaping his squad for the future.
Regardless of whether they manage to retain Brooks for the long term, Bournemouth should look to bring in some top-quality young talents with one eye on the future. And reigniting interest in Porto’s Fabio Vieira would definitely be a smart idea.
The 20-year-old is currently on the fringes of Porto’s first-team but he is held in high regard as a player with enormous potential to go on and make a name for himself at the highest level. That he has already started to rub shoulders with the senior pros clearly indicates that the Portuguese starlet has a bright future ahead of him.
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Verdict
Capable of playing in central and wide attacking roles, Bournemouth should look at Fabio Vieira as someone who can be gradually phased into the first-team mix rather than an immediate game-changer.
They currently have accomplished stars like Jefferson Lerma, Dan Gosling, Brooks and Lewis Cook competing for places in the midfield but Vieira could still be a useful squad option as the Cherries look to make an immediate return to the top-flight.
