Patrick Viera – Return of a legend?

In a move that no one expected, Arsene Wenger seems to be trying to resign club legend Patrick Viera back to Arsenal. The move, which could only be eclipsed by the return of Theirry Henry, could see Viera make the move back to North London for almost nothing, four years after leaving for Italy.

Viera had been rumoured to return to London with Arsenal’s arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but a move to champions league football and a hero’s welcome would obviously be his preferred choice. After being voted as Arsenal’s fifth greatest player ever in 2008, Viera would be a popular signing by Wenger, although there is some debate over the motivation for the move.

Over the course of the last season, many experts agreed that Arsenal were lacking in a natural leader and dominating force in the centre of midfield, to hold the team together and provide a platform for the more attacking players to launch off. Currently the Arsenal midfield can be considered quite lightweight, and Viera’s presence would certainly harden their resolve. However, Wenger has already signed Belgian midfielder Thomas Vermaelen, so one questions why another defensive midfielder is needed, especially one in the autumn of his career.

Although players like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Claude Makalele have all shown in recent years that older players can still compete in the Premier League, signing a 33 year old player certainly does not fit Wenger’s ethos of signing young talent, despite the signing of Mikael Silvestre last season. Instead, Viera may be seen as a back up player, whose main role is to help nurture the development of players such as Alex Song and Abou Diaby rather than an immediate solution to Arsenal’s midfield problems.

Although there is huge debate over whether Viera can perform in the league, his possible signing could very well be one of the signings of the season, up there with Michael Owen’s move to Manchester United. Viera’s last appearance in the famous red shirt was the 2005 FA Cup final, in which he scored the winning penalty; it would be poetic justice, and huge testimony to Arsene Wenger’s vision, if Viera was a key part of the squad that ended Arsenal’s four year trophy hiatus.