Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira set to be named Crystal Palace’s new manager within the next 24 hours

Crystal Palace is close to signing Patrick Vieira as their new head coach after the former Arsenal player agreed personal terms on Tuesday. Nothing has been signed yet, as reported by David Ornstein earlier, with Patrick Vieira the third manager in three weeks where terms have been agreed, but Palace now expect this deal to go through. The 45-year-old has held productive talks with the Palace co-chairman Steve Parish this week and the deal is expected to be confirmed within the next 24 hours.

The process of applying for a visa is underway in the hope that Patrick Vieira will be able to oversee the first day of pre-season training next Monday. The 45-year-old, who has been in the United Kingdom working as a pundit on ITV’s coverage of Euro 2020, left OGC Nice in December after his two full seasons in charge, qualifying for the Europa League.

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It would bring an end to difficult recruitment process for Palace, who broke off talks with Nuno Espírito Santo before the former Borussia Dortmund manager Lucian Favre turned down the position last week on the day he was about to sign a three-year contract. Palace’s initial list of candidates were Frank Lampard, Sean Dyche and Valérien Ismaël, who has left Barnsley to take over at West Brom.

Patrick Vieira’s managerial career

Patrick Vieira managed the MLS side New York City FC before moving to Nice in 2018. The 45-year-old spent four years in Manchester city in some off-field roles. He first oversaw youth development and then became the reserve team manager. In his two and a half years at New York, Patrick Vieira improved the team’s position each season, finishing 2nd in 2017. He took charge of OGC Nice in June 2018 and led them to seventh in his first campaign and fifth in his second, qualifying for the Europa League, before being sacked in December 2020. His dismissal came after five straight defeats, left the club 11th in the table and out of Europe at the group stage.

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Vieira, had previously been linked to Arsenal when the manager’s job at The Emirates became vacant in 2018-2019. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also sees Vieira as the successor to the position one day.

Vieira played for Arsenal from 1996-2005 and went to City after spells at Juventus and Inter Milan. He has 396 caps for Arsenal in which he scored 32 goals & assisted in 43 more. He has won the Premier League(x3), UEFA Champions League(x1), European Championship(x1) with the Gunners. Vieira has 107 caps for France in which he won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 & The EURO in 2000. In 2005 Vieira was transferred to Juventus FC for £13.75 million for a five-year deal. Juventus were stripped of their 2004–05 and 2005–06 titles after it was revealed they were involved in a Match fixing scandal.

Juventus were relegated to Serie B and deducted 17 points by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for their involvement, prompting many of the club’s major stars to move elsewhere. After press speculation linking him to various clubs, including a move back to Arsenal, on 2 August 2006, Vieira officially signed a four-year deal with Inter Milan in a deal to be worth €9.5 million. He later joined Manchester City in 2010.

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