Patrick Vieira is one of the greatest players in Arsenal’s history, but he is also one of several Gunners who also featured for Manchester City.
The likes of David Seaman, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Adebayor all made direct moves from Arsenal to Man City, but Vieira followed a different path.
Vieira left Arsenal in 2005, scoring the winning penalty in the FA Cup final against Manchester United with his final kick of a ball for the club, and he went to Juventus.
He then moved on to Inter Milan before returning to the Premier League, but he joined Man City rather than reuniting with Arsene Wenger.
Vieira is still held in high regard at Arsenal, and the best spell of his career came at Highbury, despite his short stint at Man City before retiring.
Patrick Vieira praises Arsenal for efforts in title race
Speaking to Man City club media, Vieira praised Arsenal for their outstanding campaign, and admitted that they were unlucky to be coming up against such a strong City side.
“To be honest, I felt sorry for Arsenal because they had a really good season and I really enjoyed watching them,” Vieira stated.
“They played some really good football. They have some really good talent and the problem for Arsenal was City.
“If City had a bad season, Arsenal would win the league. Arsenal are very strong defensively. Up front, they have some really good players and they played fantastically well.
“I watched some of their games and they were unbelievable.”
Arsenal can challenge Man City for Premier League title next season
Mikel Arteta’s side are well placed to challenge Man City again next season. The squad is full of top-quality young players on long-term contracts, and with a few additions in the transfer market, they will back themselves to maintain their form from the second half of this season.
Vieira also admitted that he believes the club where he won three Premier League titles will be in the mix again to win a first since he left.
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“Arsenal closed the gap and it will be even more interesting next season if they can keep that momentum. I think they will be challenging City,” he added.
Arsenal are coming up against arguably the most dominant side English football has seen, and if they can pip Pep Guardiola’s team to the title next season, it would go down as one of the best title wins in the history of the club.