Patrick Vieira: From Hero to Zero?

I'll be honest with you, but hearing the news of Patrick Vieira's signing for Manchester City, and worse, seeing him parade his new side's strip, I was filled with a deep sense of disappointment. A sense that our former Club Captain had obviously shed all the past moments of toiling, success, and glory, with the team and manager that refined him into the superstar he is today.

As he hurriedly scuttled out of José Mourinho's door (who wouldn't to be honest?), and straight into Sheikh Mansour's back pocket (again, who wouldn't with all that cash?), you get a sense that all that Patrick Vieira stood for is now all forgotten.

Growing up at a time when Arsène Wenger's Arsenal were the first to stand up to Manchester United's monopoly, playing the brand of football and succeeding where many others failed, Patrick Vieira was the centre of it all. He is now but a mere pawn in Man City's game.

A cheap game played at a great cost, callous to the rules, blind to the bigger picture. Just like Chelsea and Real Madrid were before them, and just like many others will follow suit. Anyway, I digress.

These were my initial thoughts. My thoughts all week in fact as the speculation mounted and the odds were shortened hour on hour.

But, allow me to look at the facts objectively, if I may, considering there is next to bugger all to discuss at the moment. Here is a man who believes he can still do a job at the top level, a fact obviously so ignorantly dismissed by his former boss at Inter Milan.

With Mourinho freely deploying players of a similar age and stature to Vieira, one cannot help but feel this was an unjustified, personal vendetta against the France skipper due to his Arsenal roots, which you wouldn't past a man of Mourinho's unpalatable character.

Add to that, Vieira's burning to desire to turn out for France one final time on the world stage, a motivation enough to spark off the crazy season of transfers that is predicted to kick-off shortly.

So, while Gooners can look at Vieira donning the City shirt with a sense of disappointment, resentment, even bitterness, it is perhaps no surprise that such a deal has taken place. After all, just as Vieira has his motives to prove himself at the top level, City are prepared to go all out to acquire as many "big-name" players as possible, regardless of their current form and injury record.

That, of course, the complete antithesis of Wenger's Arsenal and their perceptions of what a big-name player constitutes, Le Boss reiterating such defining characteristics on Arsenal.com yesterday.

We are in need of players. This is a well-documented premise. True, we have been on a good run of form ever since crashing at home to Chelsea, most recently epitomised by the fighting spirit and grit shown in overturning the FA Cup deficit at Upton Park when we were just twelve minutes away from making an acrimoniously early exit.

However, with Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboué's departures to the African Cup of Nations, our wretched fortune with long-term injuries to key personnel, and, lest we forget, a telling run of fixtures against Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Aston Villa in quick succession within the next five weeks!

Which brings to mind the true root of my disappointment at Manchester City's ability to lure Vieira to Eastlands without a hint of competition from our behalf. Not because he is a former legend and all that emotional waffle that I alluded to earlier. But because we simply need a defensive midfielder to cover for the aforementioned Song's absence, as well as provide necessary experience and strength in numbers.

With Denilson not of the required stature and physical strength I feel, and with Diaby, whose recent performances I salute (it is well documented I am not his biggest fan) not particularly defensively adept, I had stated previously the need for a defensive midfielder, despite both players' willingness to fill in for the Cameroon international.

And, with the weekend fast approaching and a whole week of potential transfers gone by, transfer stories continue to blizzard their way out of the press, all without any real substance. Apart from the fact that we are sure to sign a striker before the window is up that is, a welcome although not desperately vital addition, given our goalscoring exploits.

Vieira seemed to tick many of the boxes: a short-term option, powerful, experienced, familiar with the Club, and above all, a winner, and at a reasonably cheap price. Why Wenger didn't think Vieira was worth a bet we will never know.

We simply have to hope that this is a decision we do not come to regret when it comes to both sides' respective seasons.

Not that we would've offered our former Captain the reported £100,000 a week he will be picking up in the blue half of Manchester, that's for sure.