The Arsenal boss told reporters ahead of the Champions League meeting with Lens that the 24-year-old underwent groin surgery on Monday.
Earlier on Tuesday, journalists reported that Vieira could not be seen in training, and Arteta has now announced that the Portuguese will be out for a spell.
“Yeah we’ve got a problem with him,” football.london quotes the Arsenal manager as saying.
“He’s been having some discomfort. We tried to have some conservative treatment with him.
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
“It wasn’t improving so we sent him to see a specialist and the advice was to have an operation in his groin.
“We did that yesterday. We expect him to be out for weeks now.”
When pressed about whether Vieira would be out until the January break, Arteta said: “We don’t expect him to do that. Let’s see how he evolves.
“The job it was done yesterday so we’ll have to wait and see. It will take weeks I think.”
It’s a shame to hear that Vieira will miss several weeks of football, but with surgery now done, hopefully he makes a speedy recovery and comes back stronger.
Vieira has featured 13 times for Arsenal this season, scoring once and assisting four more in all competitions.
However, he had slipped out of contention lately, and hadn’t featured for two weeks prior to Tuesday’s news.
Nonetheless, with Arsenal heading towards the busy festive period, Vieira would’ve certainly been called upon by Arteta.
Fabio Vieira definitely out, Ben White likely in as Arsenal prepare to host Lens in Champions League
Although Vieira is out, Ben White will likely be available for the Lens clash, according to Arteta.
The Arsenal defender was spotted training on his own with a coach, rather than taking part in team activities.
White came on as a substitute in Saturday’s narrow Premier League win over Brentford following an injury scare.
It looked as though the £50million man may have been a doubt for the Lens game. However, Arteta suggested this would not be the case.
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