£34m star will never play for Arsenal again

Since Mikel Arteta became Arsenal manager there is not a lot to criticise him for.

Crucially, he has the Gunners playing at the end of the table. They have finished second in each of the last three seasons and the hope is that they will finally end that curse. They are in pole position to win the Premier League right now.

Yet, while their recruitment on the whole has rightly gained plaudits, there have been some notable duds in there. Arteta now has the help of Andrea Berta but the biggest mistake from last summer’s recruitment is undoubtedly Noni Maduke.

He’s been way below par and the questions that were raised when he first arrived are still relevant.

Why Noni Madueke is Berta’s worst signing

Berta has been in charge of Arsenal’s recruitment for over a year now but the jury is still out on whether he did a good job last summer. That judgement could well be determined by whether the Gunners get over the line next weekend to win the title.

In Viktor Gyokeres, he has found a ruthless goalscorer and while his overall play has been criticised, there can be no criticising his ability in front of goal.

The Gunners recruited two further forward players in Eberechi Eze, who is starting to come alive in Arsenal colorus and Madueke, who certainly hasn’t.

When it was first announced that Arsenal were spending £52m on the winger, there were mass protests. They have not recruited particularly well from Chelsea in recent years so fears were understandable.

Well, since arriving, it’s safe to say any questions that were raised were right to be brought up. He simply hasn’t been good enough.

While he has been useful in light of Bukayo Saka’s fitness problems, the England international has struggled to ever get close to the Hale Ender’s level of output.

This term, Madueke has scored just two goals in 25 Premier League matches. In all competitions he has just seven in 41. In fact, the wide man has been so poor of late that he has not found the net in his last 13 games.

Fans are perhaps rightfully calling for him to leave immediately this summer but that does feel unlikely, however bad you think this signing has been.

That said, it’s not the worst of the Arteta era.

Worse than Madueke: Arsenal must sell Arteta’s worst signing

Madueke has been poor, of course he has, but has he been quite as bad as Fabio Vieira? Certainly not.

Vieira moved to the Emirates Stadium back in the summer of 2022 for a fee of £34m. At the time, he was being compared to Martin Odegaard and also Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva.

A left-footed creator who is dimunitive in stature, he arrived from Porto after a fantastic season aged just 22. His final year in Portugal saw him score just six times but he supplied a whopping 16 assists.

Well, he has never lived up to the dizzy heights expected of him as a young attacking midfielder.

Vieira scored a beauty against Brentford to open his account in 2022/23 but that’s about as good as it’s got a player who was no doubt a worse signing than Madueke.

The latter has struck home seven goals, but Vieira still only has four goals to his name as an Arsenal player. You can bet your mortgage on the fact he will not add to that tally.

Why? Well, the midfielder has been alienated from the squad, enduring multiple loan spells first at Porto last term where he scored five goals and registered five assists, before joining Hamburg in Germany for 2025/26.

In the Bundesliga, to his credit, the 25-year-old has had “an outstanding season” in the words of the Athletic’s German football correspondant, Seb Stafford-Bloor, proving to be one of the signings of the campaign.

He ended his time there with seven goals and five assists, but that should not be enough to rescue his career in north London. Instead, Arsenal should use it to their advantage to secure a hefty fee for his services.

The Gunners have been particularly poor at selling players but this represents an opportunity to improve in that regard. Hamburg could sign him permanently but if they don’t, there are bound to be plenty of suitors that’s for sure.

Vieira will have regrets about how his time in London has played out, as will Arteta. It was a huge waste of £34m and they stand little chance of recouping that fee.

Expect him to move on quickly this summer without playing again for Arsenal.