Arsene Wenger Backs Patrick Vieira to Be a Future Arsenal Manager After Success With Nice
Arsene Wenger believes his former captain Patrick Vieira will one day take over as Arsenal manager.
Wenger, who won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups during his 22 year managerial reign at the Gunners, has labelled the 42-year-old 'elegant and authoritative.'
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Vieira was a key part of all three of those title-winning sides after moving to north London in the same year as Wenger, and is now having a successful spell in charge of Ligue 1 side Nice.
"I see him as the Arsenal coach one day because he is too young to go directly into international football," Wenger told The Times.
"His life will go through club football. He has constructed his career intelligently and patiently.
"He left when he was young, and he has taken time to mature and learn his profession. And something you can't give; he has a natural charisma, he is both elegant and authoritative.
"He has passed through a difficult time at Nice but he showed no signs of weakness. It is in times of crisis you see the coach. You look at the number of points and it is exceptional."
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The World Cup winning midfielder left Arsenal in 2005, before enjoying spells at Juventus and Inter, before finishing his playing career at Manchester City, where he would eventually become a youth team coach.
Vieira started his managerial career at New York City FC, before taking over at Nice last summer, guiding the side to eighth in Ligue 1 while dealing with the notoriously difficult to handle Mario Balotelli, something which has seriously impressed the ex-Arsenal boss.
