Hamburg SV signed Fábio Vieira and Albert Sambi Lokonga from Arsenal, on a loan and permanent transfer respectively, on summer deadline day.
Last season, Vieira was on loan at FC Porto and prior to joining the Bundesliga club, he was reportedly offered to Bayern Munich, who didn’t bite.
The Arsenal player made his debut for Hamburg against Bayern Munich and started in their 2-1 win over Heidenheim at the weekend.
Vieira assisted Rayan Philippe’s second goal against Heidenheim, and his performance and signing has been analysed by Monday’s edition of Bild.
They gave him the highest rating of 2, which was bettered by anyone else. Bild’s ratings work on the German school grading system, meaning the lower the better.
Bild name both the 25-year-old and Tottenham Hotspur’s Luka Vušković, as Hamburg’s potential ‘saviours’ of this season. The Croatian defender opened the scoring on Saturday.
The Bundesliga newcomers are currently above the danger zone and Bild say the loanees’ displays against Heidenheim show they have secured ‘top-notch signings’ who could be key in their bid to avoid relegation.
With regards to Vieira’s signing, the report state Hamburg director Claus Costa first spoke to him after their defeat to St.Pauli on August 30th.
They had other candidates and only decided to make advances to sign him on loan from the Gunners in the final stage of the window, and this can pay off.
If the midfielder were to maintain his highly rated form against Heidenheim, Bild say ‘it would be a huge advantage for HSV in the fight to avoid relegation’.
