Juve hunt Gunners captain Vieira

Juventus have reportedly targeted Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira after rejecting Chelsea’s bid for their France striker David Trezeguet.

The Italian champions insist Trezeguet is not for sale as Fabio Capello builds a squad to defend their Scudetto title. And Vieira is seen as the man to partner Brazilian Emerson at the heart of the team.

Chelsea apparently turned to Trezeguet – Juve’s third-choice frontman behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alessandro Del Piero – after failing to lure Samuel Eto’o or Andrei Shevchenko from Barcelona and AC Milan respectively.

Blues chief Jose Mourinho continued his search after both Didier Drogba and Mateja Kezman failed to impress last season despite Chelsea’s Premiership title triumph.

Roman Abramovich looks like being forced to look elsewhere after Juve managing director Luciano Moggi dismissed their approach for Trezeguet out of hand while appearing to test the water with regards a move for Vieira.

He told The Sun: “They made a formal offer for Trezeguet. But none of our "champion" players is for sale.

“What we want now is to find a midfield partner for Emerson – and our wish is to buy Patrick Vieira if Arsenal are willing to sell.

“Obviously, they will not let him go cheaply, as he is a magnificent, winning midfielder. But if Arsenal are willing to do business, we’d buy him tomorrow.”