Invincible: Vieira led Arsenal to their last league
title before moving to Juventus in 2005
Patrick Vieira is expected to join Manchester City on a six-month loan deal
by the start of next week. The former Arsenal captain
has spoken with his former Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini, now
the boss at Eastlands, and a deal is ‘99 per cent
agreed’.
First, the 33-year-old has been asked to stay in Italy and
provide cover for injury-hit Inter, who play Chievo tomorrow and
Siena on Saturday.
After that the France midfielder is expected to fly to
Manchester and put pen to paper on the short-term loan, which
carries the possibility of an 18-month contract to follow if
everything goes well for both parties during his loan period.
Vieira has been desperate to quit Inter since last summer, when
France coach Raymond Domenech made it clear he needed to be playng
regular league football to guarantee a place in this summer’s World
Cup squad.
He was on the brink of joining Tottenham last August after a
bold move from Harry Redknapp but then had second thoughts when his
former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also showed interest.
Vieira had led the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’, who were unbeaten
champions in 2003-04.
Mancini suggested there would be a number of January arrivals
yesterday when he said: ‘All the players want to join Manchester
City. That is normal with a big club which is going to have a big
future.
'People are not only talking about Patrick Vieira, they are also
saying Ivan Cordoba and Cristian Chivu.’
However, instead of Inter’s Chivu, Mancini is expected to sign
Argentinian left back Cristian Ansaldi from Russian champions Rubin
Kazan, as first revealed by Sportsmail last month, for around
£6million.
