Arsenal have completed the signing of Fabio Vieira from Porto for a £30million fee (€35m) with £4.2m (€5m) in add-ons.
Mikel Arteta has been linked to numerous players in the transfer market as Arsenal look to strengthen after failing to qualify for the Champions League.
Youri Tielemans and Vitinha were among the names suggested to bolster the midfield of Arsenal, who already have Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny to call upon.
Arsenal have instead opted to bring in Vitinha's Porto team-mate Vieira on a long-term deal, the club announced on Tuesday.
"I am very excited that we have identified and signed such a special talent," said Arteta.
"Fabio is a very creative player that will bring high quality and versatility to our attacking play.
"We welcome Fabio and his family to our club and are looking forward to starting work with him ahead of the new season."
Vieira will offer Arteta another creative outlet going forward, the 22-year-old recording the most assists (14) among Porto players in the 2021-22 Primeira Liga campaign.
The midfielder also scored six league goals and ranked joint-fifth for chances created (34), while playing 27 times.
Arteta will hope Vieira can provide capable support to the likes of Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah as Arsenal look to improve on their fifth-place finish in the Premier League.
Victor Osimhen, Noa Lang and Gabriel Jesus have all been linked to fill the void left up top by the departures of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
And Arsenal technical director Edu, who was thrilled with the move, suggested there was more to come in the transfer market.
"We are so pleased to have completed the signing of Fabio from FC Porto," he said.
"Fabio is a player with special qualities who is comfortable with the ball in the final third of the pitch.
"We are all looking forward to working with him and enjoying his future contribution to Arsenal. We will now continue to work hard and are looking forward to finishing this transfer window as strongly possible."
Vieira has been handed the number 21 shirt.
Lydia Bedford takes Brentford Under-18s reins in landmark appointment for women
Lydia Bedford has been announced as Brentford Under-18s head coach in a landmark appointment.
Bedford has left her position as assistant boss with Arsenal’s women team to become the first female coach to take the reins at a men’s professional side in England.
The former Leicester manager is set to work alongside Jon-Paul Pittman, who will join as assistant coach from Forest Green.
Brentford director of football Phil Giles said: “I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul to our under-18 team for next year.
“We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two best candidates, and thankfully we were able to finalise their recruitment to the staff.
“I’m sure they will excel, and we all look forward to working with them through pre-season and beyond.”
Barry Robson delighted to sign ‘proven leader’ Nicky Devlin for Aberdeen
Barry Robson is delighted to have added “a proven leader” to his squad after Aberdeen confirmed the arrival of former Livingston captain Nicky Devlin on a two-year deal.
The 29-year-old’s switch to Pittodrie was already common knowledge after a photo emerged a fortnight ago of the player and his agent signing his pre-contract with the Dons.
Devlin even spoke briefly about his impending move to Aberdeen last week at a pre-match media conference ahead of his penultimate outing for Livingston against Motherwell.
The Dons were finally able to officially announce the signing on Thursday.
“Nicky is a proven leader and is exactly the type of character I want within my squad here,” manager Robson told the Reds’ website.
“He is an experienced professional who has been captain at two previous clubs, he knows the league well and is equipped for the demands we are going to face next season.”
Devlin has also played for Dumbarton, Stenhousemuir, Ayr United – where he was also skipper – and Walsall.
The 29-year-old is looking forward to his first taste of European football, with the Dons set for guaranteed group-stage involvement until Christmas if Celtic defeat Inverness in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final.
“It’s great to be an Aberdeen player and I am really looking forward to the season ahead,” he said.
“Aberdeen really impressed me when the conversations first started about a potential move.
“The way the manager wants to take the club forward and the personal touches from all the staff contributed to my decision. Aberdeen was definitely the best fit for me.
“The opportunity to play in Europe was clearly an added attraction.
“I’ve had to work hard in my career to get where I am and so I want to do my very best at Aberdeen and grasp the fantastic opportunity I’ve been given.”
Kyogo Furuhashi ‘bullish’ about making Scottish Cup final – Ange Postecoglou
Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi is “bullish” about his chances of making the Scottish Cup final despite not training so far this week.
The Japan international went off with a leg knock during last Saturday’s 5-0 win over Aberdeen after coming off worse in a 50-50 with Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos.
The 28-year-old has scored 33 goals this season and won a clean sweep of Scotland’s player of the year awards, and he has an impressive record in cup finals, with match-winning doubles in the League Cup in each of his two seasons with Celtic.
Boss Ange Postecoglou said: “Kyogo is progressing. He hasn’t trained yet. The plan is to get him out there tomorrow (Friday) and see how he goes. He is doing some individual stuff this afternoon.
“He always is, but he is still pretty bullish about playing so we will just see how he goes.
“We will be guided by him a little bit. We have done that in the past. He has had a couple of times, whether it’s with his shoulder or in last year’s League Cup final he went in with a hamstring that wasn’t totally healed and scored a couple of goals.
“So I will be guided by him. He is very strong mentally so if he gives us the green light we will put him in there.”
The only definite absentee is Australia midfielder Aaron Mooy, who has been nursing a back problem in recent weeks.
Postecoglou said: “(Alistair) Johnston is fine, he has trained all week and (Sead) Haksabanovic is back in so he is available as well. The only real absence is Aaron Mooy.”
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