Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has revealed he rejected the chance to join Manchester United despite holding a private meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson. Vieira, who won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups under Arsene Wenger, is considered one of Arsenal's greatest ever players.
The French World Cup winner was a key member of Wenger's Invincible side and ended his nine-year spell at Arsenal in 2005, moving to Italian giants Inter Milan. During his time in north London, Vieira attracted interest from Manchester United and met with Ferguson to discuss a potential move.
Ferguson's vision
Ferguson sold an exciting vision to Vieira, but the former Arsenal captain said he 'couldn't leave Arsenal' as he knew they were 'building something special'. Speaking to Sky Sports, Vieira said: 'I had the opportunity to move to Real Madrid a couple of times and I even had an opportunity to move to Manchester United.'
'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.'
Ferguson wanted to pair Vieira with Roy Keane in midfield, with Ryan Giggs on the left, David Beckham on the right, and Paul Scholes playing behind Ruud van Nistelrooy. Vieira acknowledged: 'It wasn't a bad team.'
Decision to stay
Despite the allure of United's plans, Vieira felt unable to leave Arsenal. '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,' he said.
'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.'
Vieira was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2022. The 50-year-old is currently manager of African giants Senegal.
'Patrick Vieira came to the Premier League a relative unknown but left having redefined the role of a central midfielder,' a statement read. 'The Frenchman provided a rare combination of power, aggression and skill at the heart of an Arsenal midfield that won three Premier League titles. His long-range strikes and late runs into the penalty area brought 31 goals, including the one that sealed Arsenal's Invincible season in 2003/04, the captain lifting the Premier League Trophy after an unbeaten campaign.'
