By Myles Palmer
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JUVENTUS have signed Patrick Vieira for £13.7 million.
I’m not surprised Vieira has been sold.
But I’m amazed that he has agreed to play in Italy.
And I’m surprised that Juve, an old team, have signed a 29-year old midfielder who does not run as much as he did three years ago, or make as many tackles.
Still, Vieira is a two-footed playmaker who can operate in any team in any league.
On what PV4 did in his first six seasons, from 1996 to 2002, he was the finest Arsenal player I have seen.
And Patrick Vieira was the best player in the Premiership during those six years.
He will relish a new challenge.
He will really have to concentrate in Serie A.
He now has to prove himself all over again – to the players, fans, Capello, the media.
He won’t be captain.
He can concentrate on being a great player again.
Let’s hope he can ignore the racial abuse.
Let’s also hope he does not slag off Arsenal.
And let’s hope Juventus play the first game at the Emirates Stadium.
All this must be a big wrench for Pat, a huge trauma.
ALSO : THIS IS A BIG CALL.
It’s a really big call by Arsene Wenger.
We thought leaving Sol Campbell out of the FA Cup Final was a big call, but this is 100 times bigger.
It’s a bold move,a radical move, but the right move by Arsene.
And it’s huge vote of confidence in his kids.
My motto: As footballers get richer, teams have to get younger.
Teams need fire, hunger, desire.
We are seeing a tsunami of youth washing into the Arsenal first team.
Arsene has gone for Hleb, Robinho, Baptista, Diarra and Jenas – and the Baptista deal will happen.
I HAD TO EAT HUMBLE PIE tonight when my friends from Dublin’s Newstalk 106 FM phoned.
On air two weeks ago I emphatically stated that Vieira would never play for an Italian club.
Tonight I said, ” It’s a sea-change. Three summers ago, they begged him to stay. Two summers ago, Arsenal begged him to stay.
“Last year they said : You can go to Real Madrid if you want. It’s your decision. And he did a U-turn at the last moment.
“Now they’ve made the decision for him. Arsenal have said : we want to unload you, we’ve talked to Juventus, they’ve offered 20 million euros for you.”
Presenter Owen McDevitt asked me who Wenger might bring in to replace Vieira.
Owen said, “They’re gonna need somebody with a lot of stature. Ken was making the point that maybe he doesn’t see Vieira as the right role model for some of the younger players at Arsenal, the way his attitude has been over the last season or two. What sort of a player and a person do they need to bring in?”
I said, “Wenger is a star-maker, not a star collector. The only superstar he’s bought is Marc Overmars. Everybody else has become more famous by playing for Arsenal, pretty much.
“He signed Vieira as an unknown and within two years he’d made him a Double winner with Arsenal and a World Cup winner with France.
“And that’s what he likes to do. He gets hold of Anelka, Thierry Henry. He revives careers. He gets rough diamonds and polishes them into jewels. And that’s what he’ll do here, he’ll buy someone in his early twenties.
“This has been coming for a long time. He might be able to buy Diarra from Lyon – I’m sure Diarra would love to play for Arsenal. If they will let him go.
“It’s also conceivable that Michael Essien could come to Arsenal in a year’s time. But it’s entirely typical of Arsene Wenger that he is not looking to buy the star man who makes the headlines at Lyon, but the hard-tackling guy who digs in behind him.”
I HEAR THAT Sol Campbell wants to leave.
One or two journalists have that story, so you will be hearing a lot about that.
I won’t, because I’m going out tomorrow. I’ve spent all day on the phone today and I’m all phoned out. There must be another life – and I’m going out to find it.
July 15th 2005