The wildfires in Portugal’s north have caused untold damage and terror in recent days, with large areas of land involved and many people having to flee from their properties.
FC Porto released a statement on Tuesday which stated the club are closely monitoring players after training, to see if the smoke in the atmosphere is having any impact on them.
When covering that, Noticias au Minuto point out Fabio Vieira missed training again, having treatment for an injury instead.
Indeed, he hasn’t played a minute of football since arriving from Arsenal in August. Leaving Mikel Arteta’s side because he needed minutes to progress, Porto were quick to jump at the chance and secure their former player on loan.
There’s no purchase option in the loan agreement with Arsenal, largely because Porto couldn’t afford it anyway when wages are taken into account.
Minutes are crucial, however, it doesn’t look like the midfielder is even on the verge of being ready.
Wednesday’s edition of Jornal de Noticias reports the injury was picked up last week. They say it’s a muscle problem in the 24-year-old’s right thigh.
Porto play Vitoria de Guimarães on Saturday, and the Portuguese newspaper states taking part in that match is ‘little more than a pipe dream’ for the Arsenal player.
Vieira had groin surgery in November, and since then he’s played less than an hour of football spread over three matches. His last appearance was eight minutes against Chelsea in April.
Given all of that it’s no surprise he’s picked an issue when trying to get to full speed, but it’s clearly a worry. Arsenal and Porto will want him back on the pitch as soon as possible.
