Dacourt set for Vieira role
Thursday 21 July, 2005
Arsenal are lining up Roma midfielder Olivier Dacourt as a replacement for Patrick Vieira who joined Juventus last week.
Media reports in France on Thursday suggest the Gunners are in advanced talks with Dacourt’s representatives, whose contract with Italian side Roma runs for another 12 months.
It’s not the first time that Coach Arsene Wenger has tried to bring the combative midfielder to Highbury.
After the 1998-99 season with Everton, Dacourt chose to return to France with Lens ahead of Arsenal before joining Leeds the following year.
After playing in the Champions’ League semi-finals with Leeds, Arsenal came knocking again, however this time it was the North London club that pulled the plug on negotiations, preferring the cheaper option of Brazilian Gilberto Silva.
Now, however, given Roma’s fragile financial state, Dacourt could be allowed to go for free, just to trim down the club’s wage bill.
channel4.com