Vieira vor Abschied ?

[ianrush]

Wenger has fight to keep Vieira

Louise Taylor

Saturday July 17, 2004

The Guardian

Arsène Wenger will today be to forced to address the mounting sense of panic at Arsenal of what seems the likely departure of their captain and talisman Patrick Vieira.

Vieira has confirmed his determination to leave Highbury to his manager and Wenger last night held crisis talks with the Gunners' vice-chairman David Dein. Real Madrid remains the most likely destination for the France midfielder, with a price-tag of around £30m but there is speculation that Internazionale could be late contenders.

Arsenal have so far refused to comment but Wenger is due to face the press this afternoon at Arsenal's first pre-season friendly against non-League Barnet at Underhill.

[DrObst]

wäre ein harter schlag für arsenal, ist mMn der beste defensive MF-spieler überhaupt

[Starostyak]

Hervorragend, sollte sich das größte "..." dieses Vereins nach Spanien oder Italien schleichen.

[ianrush]

Hervorragend, sollte sich das größte "..." dieses Vereins nach Spanien oder Italien schleichen.

Christiano Ronaldo will ja nicht weg und Beckham ist ja schon weg oder ?

Aber würde Arsenal sicher härter treffen als ein Abgang von Henry.

[Pinturicchio]

Aber würde Arsenal sicher härter treffen als ein Abgang von Henry.

Bin ich nicht ganz deiner Meinung. Ohne einen Henry vorige Saison, wäre Arsenal nicht Meister geworden. Kann esmir aber nicht vorstellen das Vieira wirklich von Arsenal weggeht, außer Real zahlt wirklich eine Mörderablösesumme, doch zu Inter auf keinen Fall.

[Starostyak]

Christiano Ronaldo will ja nicht weg und Beckham ist ja schon weg oder ?

Aber würde Arsenal sicher härter treffen als ein Abgang von Henry.

Kann dir nur vollkommen Recht geben. Vieira würde den Gunners um Einiges mehr weh tun als Henry! So sehr ich ihn auch verabscheue, er ist wohl derzeit einer der drei besten defensiven Mittelfeldspieler der Welt!

[ianrush]

Trust me, says Wenger as Vieira move is Real threat

Arsenal enjoy emphatic pre-season victory but Arindam Rej finds their manager fighting a harder battle to keep his captain at Highbury

Sunday July 18, 2004

The Observer

It's not often that events during pre-season prove pivotal to the outcome of a whole campaign but, for Arsenal, the next few days could shape their season.

Arsène Wenger's home is just a few miles from Underhill, where Arsenal kicked off their summer programme with a 10-1 thrashing of Barnet, but it must have seemed a long way when he arrived to be met by a barrage of reporters desperate for information on the Patrick Vieira situation and, indeed, his own.

'It's the usual summer story,' Wenger said. 'It's newspaper talk. For me he's staying, simple as that. There hasn't been a bid and anyway we are not in the market to sell our players. The idea of a football club is not to have massive amounts of money in the bank, but to have a good team on the pitch. We are not in a situation where we want to make money on any player and if there was a bid of £20million or £30m could we really say no to it? Of course we could.'

Wenger effectively laid down a challenge to Vieira: 'He's important to us. We want him at the club and we want him to share our vision. The fans are concerned, but the media create that concern. We want Patrick to be our leader and my message is to trust the club. We don't look for money. We just look to build on what we've got by signing good young players and we want our big players and our leader to be part of that. We want Patrick to remain part of our club and I don't believe I will lose him.

'I have had regular conversations with Patrick, but I never speak about what I say to players. You have to respect that confidentiality.'

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Madrid have been tracking Vieira for three years, though they have made no determined attempt to sign him before this summer.

There is a sense of déjà vu at Highbury as the club's hierarchy seethe over Madrid's very public declaration of intent. In 1999, Nicolas Anelka was lured to the Bernabéu shortly after Arsenal had reported Madrid to the game's world governing body Fifa over their alleged 'tapping up' of the player.

Arsenal have had no official communication from Madrid, who are believed to be preparing to offer the striker Fernando Morientes as bait, valuing him at £8m, along with £23m in cash.

Real's new manager, José Camacho has already told club president Florentino Perez, who was re-elected last week: 'We must do all we can to sign Vieira.' The former Spanish national-team coach is more influential than his predecessors, Vicente del Bosque and Carlos Queiroz, and Perez has taken note, particularly as his recent policy of signing only galacticos has been undermined.

'My policy is to sign the best players in the world in every position,' said Perez. 'Patrick Vieira is, in my opinion, the best player in the world in his position.'

Wenger has himself been a Madrid target and doubts over Vieira's future are believed to be the main reason he has said that he will delay until October any decision on extending his contract, which runs until the end of next season.

Wenger himself refutes this claim: 'There's no ifs or buts. I've shown my commitment in the past and present. At the moment I have one year left on my contract and I intend to honour it.'

Despite his reluctance to put pen to paper now, his words seem believable, with the move to the new stadium at Ashburton Grove just two years away. In February, Arsenal announced they had secured the £260m loan needed for the project and Wenger's response was conclusive: 'I'm prepared to commit to the club at least until we go into the new stadium.'

The club have installed a webcam for fans to check on progress on building work on the site, and Wenger will have been enamoured by vice-chairman David Dein's admission that: 'A bust of [Wenger] at the new stadium is something we've got to think about very seriously.'

So Wenger's short-term future seems secure and for now he's concentrating on preparations for the coming season, saying that he expected to next see Vieira on Friday before the Gunners head off to their summer training camp the following day. Whether the midfielder stays for the rest of the season remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Ray Parlour looks set to leave Highbury after refusing to commit his future to the Premiership champions. He has just one year left on his contract.

A succession of injuries and the emergence of Brazilian Edu have seen Parlour drop down the pecking order at Highbury. 'All I want to do is play first-team football,' Parlour said. 'My priority at this stage of my career is to be in the starting eleven every week. At the moment I'm an Arsenal player, but to be honest I've got very little choice but to keep my options open at present.'

Francis Jeffers will have helped his cause of reigniting his Highbury career, scoring a hat-trick in the 10-1 victory over Barnet. José Reyes also got three, Dennis Bergkamp hit two and Robin van Persie, on his debut, and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie one each.

You can mail the Observer direct at [email protected]

· You've read the piece, now have your say. Email your comments to [email protected].

[iceman]

viera sagt eh schon die letzten jahre immer wieder das er geht. am ende ist er doch bei den gunners geblieben ...