Arsenal silence on Juve move for Vieira speaks volumes

ARSENAL’S near-silence speaks volumes over a possible Juventus move for captain Patrick Vieira – and suggests the French World Cup winner may finally be leaving Highbury at the age of 29.

And he could be joined in Turin by international team-mate Robert Pires, who has also been linked with the Italian champions after turning down a 12-month extension to his Arsenal contract, having asked for two more years.

Apart from Gunners’ chairman Peter Hill-Wood admitting he had heard of the Juventus interest in Vieira and saying it was still his gut feeling that it would be turned down at a board meeting next week, there has been no response from Arsenal.

But Juve have finally confirmed they would like to add the inspirational midfielder to their ranks, with club administrator Antonio Giraudo saying: “The Frenchman has great quality, not only as a player but as a man.

“There’s no doubt we are interested, even if it’s going to be very difficult to take him away from Arsenal, a very solid club.”

Juve are thought to be offering cash, along with Ghanaian midfielder Stephen Appiah or French defender Jonathan Zebina for Vieira.

However, despite reports that general manager Luciano Moggi and vice-president Roberto Bettega are in London holding negotiations with Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, Giraudo admitted: “At this time, the conditions aren’t there.”

This latest Vieira transfer saga may still have some miles to run, with Real Madrid alerted again by Arsenal’s apparent willingness to listen to offers.

He was on the brink of joining Real a year ago but the London club’s commitment to keeping him despite a £25million-plus deal, was a big factor in him changing his mind at the last moment.

This time, neither Dein nor manager Arsene Wenger have yet come out and publicly stated their desire to retain Vieira, who still has two years to run on his contract, believed to make him the highest earner at Highbury.