Fabio Vieira could be on his way back to Arsenal, thereby cutting short his season-long loan at Porto.

The midfielder, who has started the last seven league games under Vitor Bruno, was entirely left out of Porto’s squad for Saturday’s 4-0 win over Boavista.

Data from flight tracking websites shows that a private jet which took off from Porto landed at London Biggin Hill Airport at 1.03pm on Saturday afternoon. Vieira’s return has not been confirmed by either club.

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Arsenal have been stretched for midfield numbers at times this season, having particularly suffered when captain and playmaker Martin Odegaard missed 12 games between September and November due to an ankle injury.

The deeper-lying Mikel Merino was absent for his first few weeks at Arsenal with a shoulder injury while Declan Rice was suspended for the North London Derby following his red card against Brighton in September.

Vieira is a central attacking midfielder by trade but has mostly been used as a right winger while on loan at former club Porto - meaning he will be perfectly capable of filling in for Bukayo Saka. Arteta has meanwhile just learned that Saka has been sidelined for more than two months after he required a procedure on his hamstring this week.

Back-up Raheem Sterling, on loan from Chelsea, is also out of action with a knee complaint. Gabriel Martinelli was used on the right in Friday’s 1-0 win over Ipswich Town while Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri can also feature there although Vieira would provide more of a like-for-like replacement for Arteta than the first two due to being left-footed, while he also has more experience than Nwaneri.

Vieira - who has provided two goals and two assists in his 17 matches for Porto this season - has played on the right flank in just three of his 49 games under Arteta since arriving in 2022.

His loan deal in Portugal does not contain an option-to-buy clause and he was expected to return to the Emirates Stadium at the end of this season.

Manager Arteta has meanwhile refused to rule out Arsenal doing business in January. “Let’s see how we get there, hopefully the squad is going to be in a much healthier position than it is right now, but who knows?” he admitted.

“We are prepared if we need to do something, we’re capable of doing something, but then that transfer window is very tricky and difficult to control. The opportunities are very limited but we’ll be there.”