United plan Vieira swoop
United have reportedly placed a secret bid of around 32 million for the services of the Gunners' captain, who has recently expressed his dissatisfaction with his own wage level and with the constraints imposed by Arsenal's plans to build a new ground.
It is being suggested that both Sir Alex Ferguson and chief executive Peter Kenyon have confided to friends that United are planning "the kind of deal that will take everyone's breath away and catch everyone by surprise."
United made a well-publicised attempt to buy Vieira two years ago, a process that allegedly culminated in a personal plea from Roy Keane to his Arsenal counterpart over lunch that he join him in the Old Trafford midfield.
Since it has been authoritatively calculated that United now have about 50 million to spend this summer, the club, can well afford to mount such a bid for the Frenchmen.
And can continue to do so, even if they pay 14 million for Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho.
It would be foolhardy to suggest, however, that this supposed bid from United will have the guaranteed result of bringing Vieira to Old Trafford.
After all, United offered both him and Arsenal untold riches two years ago and yet that proved to be insufficient.
However, the situation has now changed somewhat given that Arsenal desperately need funds to finance their new stadium and also that Vieira's best friend at the London club, Robert Pires is showing every sign of heading for Highbury's exit door.
Furthermore, the Arsenal board will be aware that Vieira could leave London next summer for free if he does not sign a new contract within the next couple of months.
Ironically, therefore, Arsenal face exactly the same dilemma on this issue as United did in the case of David Beckham
Meanwhile Arsene Wenger has stated categorically that he is staying at Arsenal. The Frenchman had been installed as the favourite to replace Real Madrid's Vicente del Bosque, who was sensationally sacked on Monday night, only a day after winning the Spanish championship.
But Wenger is vowing to remain at Highbury.
"I can say 100% that I will be at Arsenal next season. I will not be leaving Highbury to go to Madrid. I have never broken a contract in my career and I have no intention of breaking the one I have with Arsenal, where I have two years left on my contract."
Real are understood to have offered the job to Wenger last month when he met with club president Florentino Perez in Paris.
He rejected the overtures on that occasion but speculation reached fever pitch in Spain yesterday following the controversial dismissal of del Bosque.
Perez yesterday accepted that the decision to replace coach Vicente del Bosque was a risk but defended the move as being in the best interests of the club.
News that Del Bosque would be leaving Real after more than 30 years as a player and coach brought an angry reaction from some fans.
"Time will tell if we're right or wrong," Perez said at the Bernabeu yesterday. "Like all decisions there is an element of risk but we believe this is the start of a new era and we need someone new."
Real decided not to renew the contracts of Del Bosque and captain Fernando Hierro after a six-hour board meeting on Monday.
The announcement came less than 24 hours after the club had won a 29th league title, the seventh trophy of Del Bosque's four-season reign.
Perez said the club could not afford to take the "easy" decision to renew Del Bosque's contract for one more season.
"Politically speaking, it would have been easy to give Del Bosque a one-year extension but that wouldn't have been the right choice," Perez said.
"It was important to take the decision with a cool head. Of course, we may have made a mistake but we believe what we've done is for the good of Real Madrid."
The front runner for the vacant post is Carlos Queiroz, the number two to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
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