Vieira: I may not have long left at the top

MANCHESTER CITY midfielder Patrick Vieira has admitted that he does not know how much longer his body can stand up to the rigours of playing in the Premier League.

The Frenchman, 33, is set to make his City debut this afternoon against Hull but has warned fans that he is not looking beyond this season and the World Cup at the moment.

Vieira is on a lucrative six-month loan contract at Eastlands but with the option of an extra year if both parties are happy.

In a wide-ranging interview, Vieira explained why he feels Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho wanted to get rid of him last summer, his disappointment that he did not leave Arsenal to join Real Madrid when he had the chance, and his belief that he is still the best holding midfielder available to France boss Raymond Domenech.

But it will be Vieira’s comments about his own fitness that will worry City fans before he makes his first appearance four weeks after joining the club.

“I really don’t know how much longer I can play,’’ he said. “Quite frankly, I have no idea. That’s what I’m hungry to see right now, to see what I’m still capable of.

“Obviously my big objective right now is the World Cup. At Inter I wasn’t playing as often as I wanted to, so I had to leave.

“Fortunately for me, (City coach Roberto) Mancini knows me and I played more often at Inter when Mancini was there than for Mourinho.’’

Vieira suggested that Mourinho preferred other players to him for political reasons.

“I can understand why Jose wanted to put (Sulley) Muntari or Thiago Motta in the team, because they were players that he bought and when you’re a coach and you buy a player, it’s in your interest and in the interest of your credibility that they play,’’ Vieira said.

Vieira also revealed why he left Arsenal after a trophy laden nine-year spell.

“I left Arsenal (in 2005) because perhaps I got to the stage where I had done everything I could at the club, but also because it suited the club for me to go. When I left Arsenal there were some very good young players coming through.’’

Twelve months previously, Vieira was strongly linked with Real Madrid.

Vieira eventually stayed at Arsenal but he now wishes he had moved to Spain when he had the chance.

“It was complicated with Madrid,’’ he told the latest issue of So Foot magazine. “I had to be careful. I was already aware of the lack of recognition shown to Claude Makelele there and that frightened me. I was worried the same would happen to me. If there’s one thing I would change looking back, it would be that: I would have gone to Madrid.’’

Now, though, Vieira is only looking ahead, and is focused on regaining his place in the France set-up in time for the World Cup.

“A few years ago I said, ‘I will give up on the France side if there was someone who was better than me.’ I stand by that now,’’ he said.

“I know very well that aged 33, I’m closer to the end of my career than the beginning. And I’m honest with myself. But I don’t think that Lassana Diarra is better than me. I don’t think that Jeremy Toulalan is better. I don’t think that Alou Diarra is better than me.

“It’s up to me to perform well for City and for Raymond Domenech to make his decision. That’s his job.’’

Perhaps Domenech will have a better idea about Vieira if he comes through his first test in a City shirt.