Arsenal star Fabio Vieira pumping iron three times a week in desperate bid to transform body for Premier League

FABIO VIEIRA has been pumping iron in a bid to beef up for Arsenal’s title challenge.

The Portuguese playmaker is still acclimatising to the ferocious pace of the top flight after his £30million summer switch from Porto.

But the determined 22-year-old plans to do everything in his power to accelerate the learning process.

And a big part of his plan to be a key member of Mikel Arteta’s table-toppers involves adding extra muscle to his lightweight frame.

Ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Leeds, Vieira said: “It’s a different type of game in England compared to Portugal. In England it’s more physical. I need to work on this and promise that’s what I am doing. Three times a week, I’m in the gym.

“It’s time to improve to help the team keep going, to work every day, because we are in first place and need to maintain this run.

“Everyone knows what the boss wants so the way to play is easy. When you understand the tactics and everything you need to do, the mood is much more positive.”

Vieira has only started one league game so far for Arsenal but has been a key player in their perfect start in the Europa League.

And fears that he was too similar in style to play alongside captain Martin Odegaard were dismissed during Thursday night’s 1-0 win at Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt.

Vieira said: “To win away to a team with 14 straight home wins in Europe, and in difficult weather, shows how good our mentality is.

HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL

“Everyone knows that Martin has a lot of quality and I am here to help him and all my other team-mates as much as I can.”

Odegaard is equally confident that he can work in tandem with the Portuguese Under-21 international and explained: “Fabio is a little bit different to me and it’s brilliant to play with him.

“He has great qualities on the ball and we can both play in different positions, so hopefully we will do more together in the future.”

Vieira is likely to be back on the bench at Elland Road as Arsenal look to maintain their slender lead at the top of the table.

And Odegaard insists the Gunners’ blistering start to the season is no flash in the pan.

He said: “I’m not surprised by the resilience of this team to keep winning games because I know the mindset we now have.

“Everyone is ready for every game and it doesn’t matter who starts, our mentality is always to go out there and get the three points.

“Everyone knows the style and the principles at the club and we all fight for the same thing.

“It’s such a busy schedule playing every three days, so we have to recover as quickly as possible because Leeds is a difficult game.

“It’s been a very good start but no one is getting carried away. We have to stay calm and work hard.

“And then we’ll see where that takes us this season.”