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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Simon Collings

Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira eyeing Premier League return after new Crystal Palace admission

Patrick Vieira says he would “love” to have another crack at managing in the Premier League.

The former Arsenal captain is currently coaching French side Strasbourg after being sacked by Crystal Palace in March last year.

Vieira was axed by the Eagles after a 12-match winless run and he has admitted the club were right to show him the door.

The Frenchman, however, hopes it will not be his last stint coaching in the Premier League and has hinted that he would like to manage his old club Arsenal one day.

“I would love to go back to the Premier League. It is the best league,” said Vieira.

“It’s where you have the best coaches, the best players and it’s the most entertaining league. I would love to go back to the Premier League one day.

“The aim would be to manage one of the teams I used to play for, to play Champions League football and try to win a title, that is my aim and drive.

“Politics is part of the game and smart people make the right decisions at the right time. It was the right time to get rid of me [at Crystal Palace] because of the remaining games we had left.

“I don’t feel sorry for myself – that is the industry and it’s about the world we are living in. It’s about me trying to make the right decision, and of course experience will make you a better manager.”

Vieira has swiftly got back into management after taking charge of Strasbourg last summer and guiding them to 13th place in Ligue 1 this season.

The French club are part of the BlueCo consortium, who also own Chelsea, and Vieira says they have ambitious plans for the future.

“Strasbourg 10 years ago was in the lower levels, so they’ve made their way up in the last 10 years, so there is a big change because now one of the owners is Todd Boehly, so we are part of the Chelsea family,” he told the Stick to Football podcast.

“The ambition is to play European football in the next three years. Of course, coming from this year, there is a big turn of young players, and this year was challenging and difficult – we struggled and went through some difficult periods.

“Hopefully, we will keep our best young players, we’re going to try and improve the team and try to finish in the top 10 next year. Then, why not play European football in two years’ time from now?”

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