Arsenal move to save Vieira
Arsenal were poised to sign Ajax right-back Hatem Trabelsi in a four-million pound move in an attempt to persuade captain Patrick Vieira resist a move to Real Madrid.
Arsenal were poised to sign Ajax right-back Hatem Trabelsi in a four-million pound move in an attempt to persuade captain Patrick Vieira resist a move to Real Madrid.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was reported to want the Tunisia defender who starred for Ajax in the Champions League last season.
Wenger hopes his latest signing will persuade Vieira that the English champions have set their sights firmly on European glory.
Vieira was believed to be considering leaving the Gunners because he does not believe he can fulfil his ambition of winning the Champions League at Highbury.
But even if Vieira did go to Madrid for the 30 million pounds the Spanish giants are reported to have tabled then Trabelsi would free up Cameroon right-back Lauren to fill Vieira's midfield role.
Florentino Perez insists Real Madrid are now the biggest club in the world and that will be the clinching factor in sealing Vieiras transfer.
Perez claims Real have now overtaken Manchester United as the world's biggest earner.
Madrid's marketing operation is based upon cashing in on the clubs star names.
And Vieira fits into their strategy of bringing the biggest and most marketable names to the Bernabeu.
"We have shown that investing in the best players can be profitable," Perez says.
Vieira feels Arsenal's potential has been restricted by their lack of cash. He was persuaded to sign a new contract last summer, which still has three years to run, on the premise Arsenal's new stadium at Ashburton Grove will change that.
But his patience has run out and Vieira knows that nine-times European Cup winners Madrid are in a different league on and off the pitch in terms of players and salaries.
France captain Zinedine Zidane has admitted he told Perez to sign Vieira.
"I simply said, like everyone else, that Vieira is the best player in the world in his position at the moment," he told his website.
Perez has already added Argentina defender Walter Samuel to his all-star cast from Roma for 18 million pounds this summer and is pursuing FC Porto's 20-million pound-rated defender Ricardo Carvalho.