Why Former Arsenal Star Patrick Vieira Is a Manchester City Manager in Waiting

Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad (EDS) manager, Patrick Vieira, has this week been linked with a move away from the club, with The Telegraph’s Mark Ogden suggesting Marseille as a possible destination next season.

Some feel the time may have come for Vieira to step up his development as a manager. His time with City’s under-21 stars has been seen as a success, and with his coaching licence now almost secured through the Football Association of Wales, there is little holding him back from taking on the role of first-team coach somewhere.

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The former Arsenal midfielder is on a rolling contract at the Etihad, with his current deal set to expire in the summer, but City manager Manuel Pellegrini said in a press conference ahead of the first team’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday that Vieira is a vital part of City’s future plans.

“Patrick is doing very good work here,” he said. “He must decide his future. I don’t know about that so I can’t tell you. Patrick is working well and is very important here.”

Vieira has impressed in his role at City. His EDS reached the quarter-finals of this season’s UEFA Youth League, and he has implemented an attractive, attacking style of play appreciated by the club’s board.

There are now a number of players in the City academy who the club feel confident can make the step up into City’s first team at some stage, and much of that is down to the education and leadership Vieira has provided.

City are likely to do everything they can to keep Vieira, a man hugely respected by the decision-makers at the Etihad. He’s known right across the football world and has excellent contacts in France and Africa. His appreciation and knowledge of youth players, as well as his ability to represent the club in the media, fit the club’s “holistic” vision perfectly. He would be a huge loss if he were to leave.

But with the club looking increasingly content to keep Pellegrini for the final year of his contract before possibly looking to bring in Pep Guardiola when his deal at Bayern Munich runs out in 2016, perhaps the timing isn’t quite right for Vieira.

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One way around it for the club would be to give him extra responsibility next season, promoting him to the first-team coaching staff. Whether that would be enough to satisfy Vieira’s growing needs remains unknown, but City must do everything they can to retain him on some level.

If he was to leave the club in the summer and the expected move for Guardiola fails to materialise, the club would lose a potential long-term replacement for Pellegrini when the Chilean exits the Etihad.

It’s a delicate situation with no easy answer, but City are unlikely to want to lose him and will be doing everything they can to convince him to stay.

Ex-players with the knowledge, respect and standing in the game Vieira has are few and far between, and City have invested too much in him since he moved from the playing staff into a coaching role to lose him without a fight. 

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.