P. Vieira

Biography

Patrick Vieira is a French professional football head coach and former player. He is the manager of Nice.

Considered one of the best players of his generation, Vieira began his career at Cannes in 1994, where several standout performances in his debut season garnered him a move to Serie A club Milan a year later. His single season in Italy was marred due to limited playing time, and he featured mainly for the reserve team. This allowed him to relocate to England, in order to join countryman Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, for a fee of £3.5 million in 1996.

During his nine-year stint in the Premier League, Vieira established himself as a dominating box-to-box midfielder, noted for his aggressive and highly competitive style of play, an attitude that also helped him excel as captain of the club from 2002 until his departure in 2005. He helped Arsenal achieve a sustained period of success during his time at the club, where he lifted three FA Cups and three league titles, including one unbeaten. He then returned to Italy, playing for Juventus, but quickly departed after the club sustained relegation for their part in a match-fixing scandal. He then signed for Inter Milan, where he won three league titles, before featuring for Manchester City, where he won another FA Cup before retiring in 2011.

Vieira featured at senior level for much of his international career, representing France over a period of 12 years, where he also spent some part as captain. He played in the final in his nation’s victorious campaign at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and featured heavily as the team also won Euro 2000. Despite also playing a key role in the side that finished runners-up in the 2006 World Cup, Vieira was used sparingly by France in the latter stages of his career, and he retired from international competition in 2010, after amassing 107 appearances for the side.

Following retirement, Vieira transitioned into coaching, where he took charge of the academy at Manchester City in 2013. He would depart two years later, after signing for sister club New York City. His arrival in Major League Soccer (MLS) saw the team adopt a free-flowing, attacking, press-based system, which gained him many plaudits, and garnered him a move back to his homeland to manage Ligue 1 club Nice in 2018, marking his first managerial role in Europe.

Source Wikipedia