Football
Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondent 8y

Patrick Vieira: Arsene Wenger convinced me to join Arsenal over Ajax

Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira says he didn't know anything about the Gunners when he joined the club, but moved to London because of Arsene Wenger's reputation.

Vieira had been in talks with Ajax in the summer of 1996 after a one-year stint at AC Milan, but received a phone call from Wenger when those talks stalled. Vieira said his fellow Frenchman told him he was about to take over at Arsenal and asked whether the midfielder wanted to join him.

"I didn't know anything about England or anything about Arsenal, but I knew a lot about Arsene and his reputation, so I went straight away," Vieira told the Arsenal website in an interview about his career. "I didn't know where I was going, I just knew it was in England. I knew it was in London but I didn't know a lot about Arsenal."

Vieira, who turned 40 on Thursday, went on to become one of the greatest players in the club's history, winning three league titles and four FA Cups and captaining the 2003-04 "Invincibles" side. He then returned to Italy for stints with Juventus and Inter Milan before finishing his playing career at Manchester City. He now manages Man City's sister club New York City in MLS.

Looking back at his start in England, Vieira said it took time before he got settled in the Premier League.

"The language was difficult, the culture was completely different, the game I knew was completely different," he said. "I had to prove everything because I was coming from Milan and nobody knew me. I was a young talent who hadn't done anything, so I had it all to prove and all to do."

Vieira took over as captain from Tony Adams in 2002, and many say Arsenal have not found a player with similar leadership qualities ever since he left. The former midfielder said those qualities came naturally to him ever since his time at Cannes, where he was named captain at 19.

"The manager [at Cannes] saw me as a leader not because of the way I talked, but the way I behaved on the pitch. I always had that inside me, even when I was young," he said. "That was a part of my game and I think the reason I've been really successful is because I've got this desire inside of me, this determination."

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