An Arsenal icon says he met Sir Alex Ferguson about joining Manchester United, but stayed at Arsenal because he was happy and felt loved in North London
The icon (m) nearly joined Arsenal's biggest rivals
The icon (m) nearly joined Arsenal's biggest rivals(Image: Ross Kinnaird, Getty Images)
Patrick Vieira has disclosed that he was presented with the chance to sign for Manchester United during his playing days.
The former midfielder established himself as an Arsenal legend in the Premier League, touching down in north London in 1996 and claiming three Premier League crowns throughout his tenure there. One of his most iconic periods for the Gunners occurred during the 2003-04 campaign, when he captained the team to Premier League triumph as part of their "Invincibles" squad, who secured the title without suffering a single defeat.
Following his Arsenal departure in 2005, Vieira enjoyed spells with Juventus and Inter Milan before concluding his playing career at Manchester City – though he has now disclosed he was offered the chance to join United and play for the legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
He had a chat with Fergie
He had a chat with Fergie(Image: Michael Steele, Getty Images)
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Speaking to Sky Sports, Vieira revealed: "I had the opportunity to move to Real Madrid a couple of times and I even had...an opportunity to move to Manchester United.
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"I had a meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson. Full respect, I couldn't say no to meeting him because he was an important figure in the Premier League. We met and we talked and he explained to me his vision that he had for Manchester United and the team that he wanted to build.
"He wanted to play me with Roy Keane, (Ryan) Giggs on the left-hand side, David Beckham on the right-hand side and (Paul) Scholes to play behind (Ruud) Van Nistelrooy, so it wasn't a bad team.
"But I couldn't leave Arsenal, I was too happy there and we were on the way of building something quite really special for the club and that's the way it was.
"When you do well, of course there's teams who are interested and then you have to make a decision. But the decision for me was to stay at Arsenal because I felt the love from the club, from the players and from the fans. Everything was there for me to grow up as a player and to achieve what I wanted to."
After hanging up his boots, Vieira embarked on a managerial career. He has taken the reins at Crystal Palace, Strasbourg and Genoa and, now aged 50, is currently the head coach of Senegal.