As has been reported in the Portuguese media repeatedly over the past week, FC Porto have been working on bringing Fábio Vieira back to the club this summer.
The 24-year-old hasn’t been able to become a prominent player under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, and the manager is seemingly content for him to play elsewhere in the current season.
O Jogo report there’s an agreement now in place between the Liga Portugal club and the Gunners. That agreement will see Vieira returning to Porto on loan, and there’ll be no loan fee payable to Arsenal for the move.
As a compromise on that front, Porto will cover Vieira’s entire salary for the time he’s back with his old club. There’s no mention of whether the player has taken a cut in order to facilitate this.
Porto won’t have a buying option as part of the loan move.
The transfer is expected to be finalised imminently, with only a few minor details left to be smoothed before the move can be considered complete.
Vieira is said to want to regain the importance he used to have at Porto and help his own development.