Patrick Vieira is reportedly heading back to London, albeit this time down south as he goes from the Eaglets to the Eagles.
The legendary Arsenal midfielder will take the reins at Crystal Palace following the resignation of Roy Hodgson at the end of the 2020-21 Premier League season.
Should the deal get confirmed, and multiple reports say it’s close, Vieira’s managerial career will have progressed from New York City FC to OGC Nice (Les Aiglons, French for eagles) to Crystal Palace (the Eagles, English for eagles).
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Vieira, 45, led Nice to sixth and seventh place finishes in two Ligue 1 seasons before being fired after 11 games of his third campaign with a better points-per-game than the previous two.
The former leader of Man City’s PL2 side, Vieira moved to MLS side NYCFC to start his senior career in 2016. He led the club to consecutive second-place finishes in the Eastern Conference but left for Nice after a terrific start to the 2018 season.
Vieira counts three Premier League titles with Arsenal and three scudetto with Inter Milan among the laurels from his playing days, also winning the 1998 World Cup and EURO 2000 with France.
There’s reason to think he’ll do fine at Selhurst Park, though the Eagles need a serious fix-up, especially with four of their 11 under-contract players potentially involved in January’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Will Wilfried Zaha give his legendary new boss a chance? Can Jairo Riedewald take the next step under Vieira’s tutelage?
Here’s the list of Palace players under contract through the next three seasons (ages in parentheses):
June 30, 2022
James McArthur (33)
James Tomkins (32)
Cheikhou Kouyate (31)
Jordan Ayew (29)
Jean-Philippe Mateta (24)
June 30, 2023
Christian Benteke (30)
Vicente Guaita (34)
Luka Milivojevic (30)
Jack Butland (28)
Wilfried Zaha (28)
Nathan Ferguson (20)
June 30, 2024
Jairo Riedewald (24)
June 30, 2025
Eberechi Eze (23)
Tyrick Mitchell (21)
