Vieira set to pen Juve deal Thursday 14 July, 2005
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Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira will be wearing the Juventus shirt next season, insist reports in Italy.
The Serie A outfit held further talks with the Highbury club last night, where a transfer fee of between £13m and £18m is thought to have been agreed.
"We are on the verge of signing him," said director general Luciano Moggi. "The deal should be completed this afternoon."
The French international will reportedly sign a five-year deal in Turin worth just under £2m a season.
The midfielder, tied to Arsenal until 2007, has been linked with the Stadio Delle Alpi outfit for some weeks after Juve admitted their interest in him.
Initial talks took place last week before the Juventus triad of Moggi, Roberto Bettega and Antonio Giraudo flew into London for further discussions last night.
The Bianconeri initially offered a player plus cash deal but the Highbury outfit rejected, insisting they wanted cash only or Jonathan Zebina – a player Juve don’t want to lose.
Juventus will now look to cover the cost involved in Vieira’s swoop by selling off a host of their squad players.
Fabrizio Miccoli, Igor Tudor and Enzo Maresca are just three men who will be sold during the summer.
The proposed arrival of Vieira will now significantly strengthen the Juventus midfield, as he will slot in alongside Mauro Camoranesi, Emerson and Pavel Nedved.
Vieira, who has already worked under boss Fabio Capello during a spell at Milan, could put pen to paper on a contract by the end of this week.
Juventus are also interested in signing Robert Pires, who is currently in the middle of contract talks with the Premiership outfit.
source: channel4.com
Almost screamed in my lab when reading the news today, so I will scream at home
