If you ask Arsenal fans to name their top three favourite all-time players for the club, the vast majority who were lucky enough to support the club when Patrick Vieira was playing will say the Frenchman. Even 22 years to the day after he made his debut he’s held with legendary status and the fans will always hold the midfielder in their hearts.
On this day in 1996, @OfficialVieira came off the bench to make his debut against @swfc…
The rest, as they say, is history pic.twitter.com/41ENnE7uHv
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) 16 September 2018
Patrick Vieira, who’s now the manager of French Ligue 1 club Nice, will always look back fondly on his time at Highbury. He was one of the best players to ever play on the turf at Arsenal and his name will be etched into Premier league history for his role in the invincibles season of 2003/04 season and his three Premier League winners medals will stay with him his whole life.
Spending nine years at a top club like Arsenal is always going to be difficult but Vieira made it look easy at times. The Frenchman forged an amazing rivalry with Manchester United’s Roy Keane and some of the most iconic battles of the late 90s and early 2000s feature the dynamic French midfielder. He’s got a long way to go before he might manage Arsenal but if he can be half as good a manager as he was a player then one day he could return to Arsenal as the gaffer.
You can read the Gunners’ verdict on Vieira here:
https://twitter.com/The_Gunnersbury/status/1041363683035758592
https://twitter.com/esso260589/status/1041360116598091777
GOAT captain.
— Vïn (@HeroicMesut) 16 September 2018
Wow i wish those days were never end the guy was energetic,phisically unbelievable,love & passion for this club was unquessionable, a leader that up today we have’nt got till now”the rest is history all the best#captain#leader#COYG#
— Mohammed Rashid (@Mohamme63556399) 16 September 2018
Legend from the day I heard we brought Vieira was the day I knew he is going to one of the best player in the world. A leader.
— joshi lovel (@hitscharming) 16 September 2018
https://twitter.com/arsenalman2013/status/1041362171458973696
He is the greatest gunner pic.twitter.com/geHT9SXlSO
— Daraius Oliaji (@DaraO777) 16 September 2018
The Gunners will be desperate to get Vieira back to the club in some sort of capacity sooner or later but for now, they’ll be hoping he can be a success with Nice.
