Hamburg just made a painful Fábio Vieira realization so Mikel Arteta didn't have to

Fábio Vieira is absolutely woeful. He always has been, and he probably always will be.

When Arsenal signed Fábio Vieira in 2020, it was a risk. Very little was known about him, and despite being an impressive player for Porto, the age-old cliche rings true: The Premier League is a different kettle of fish.

Fábio Vieira took a very long time to make a name for himself at Arsenal. Well, he's still in the process of trying to do that, but moving further and further away from his goals as the weeks go by.

He did show some signs of promise, but his cute passing only meant so much when he couldn't tussle in an on-field duel to save his life. He risked becoming like Mesut Özil: great on the ball, but awful off the ball.

Mikel Arteta was 100 per cent right about Fábio Vieira

And, for his out-of-possession presence alone, Mikel Arteta sent Vieira packing, just like he did with Özil

In his last three Bundesliga games, Vieira has picked up two red cards. That, frankly, is woeful, and he is already losing the faith of Hamburg this early into his loan.

Mikel Arteta called for more presence and mentality off the ball from Vieira, but he clearly doesn't know the meaning of presence off the ball. He either shies away from being the center of attention, or becomes the center of attention for all the wrong reasons.

It is worth noting that against Cologne, he picked up a second yellow card for discourse with the referee, rather than a poor tackle. But being on a yellow card already made this a reckless decision, and Vieira was punished for it.

The top line takeaway here is that Vieira has provided just one assist in six appearances for Hamburg. While it is a more forgiving club than Arsenal, nobody can deny that the fanbase would have expected more from Vieira than he has given.

The decision seems already made at Arsenal. When Vieira returns from loan, the Gunners should attempt to find a permanent sale.

The fact of the matter is that Arsenal will lose money on Vieira. This should be expected at this point, and the longer that Arsenal try to chase their losses, the more money they will end up losing.

Vieira having more of a presence off the ball clearly doesn't work. Hamburg learned this the hard way, so Arsenal didn't need to.