Patrick Vieira says he backed Daniel Ek’s attempt to buy Arsenal because he was worried that his former club was heading in the wrong direction.
The Crystal Palace manager, alongside Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, lent their support to the Spotify owner’s bid to become the club’s newest owner.
However, he seems to have since changed his mind and in a recent interview ahead of his visit to the Emirates on Monday, he appears to distance himself from the bid.
He says he was just speaking previously as an individual and a former player of Arsenal who wants good things for his ex-club.
As a manager in the Premier League now, he is in a different position as he was a few months back and says his opinion on the attempted takeover is different.
He now believes a club will only be sold if the owner wants to sell it.
Vieira said as quoted by The Daily Mail: ‘I was just expressing myself as Patrick, ex-Arsenal football player and that comment was based on how the direction was going and I was talking to somebody who had maybe a different view and way of taking Arsenal Football Club and this is the reason why with Dennis and Thierry we were involved in the situation that Arsenal was.’
‘I am in a different position than a couple of months ago so I am not going to express myself in the same way when I was just an ex-Arsenal football player,’ he added.
‘When you’re looking at the situation at the time it was clear the Kroenke family was making the statement that the club was not for sale and then I think everything was over. You or anybody can’t buy a football club if this football club is not for sale.’
Of course, he is employed by Palace now and may have future alternatives in the Premier League. To be fair his original position was born out the same he had no Premier league connection and Ek offered it. He loves the club (I did regrettably doubt that at times, how he left and his bug bear with Wenger not giving him a role he took at City, he left badly as well lest we forget how he flirted with Juve for seasons prior.) He also loves his career and Ek is the least viable option for him now so he’s acting accordingly.
Vieira: My Autobiography, the Frenchman claims Dein said: “We are neutral. We are giving you the choice of deciding what you want to do.”
Vieira insists the club’s “neutral” stance left him with a straightforward decision to join the Italian champions.
“I was angry, surprised and upset – I had been at the club nine years,” continued Vieira.
“I knew if Arsenal really wanted to keep a player they fought tooth and nail – they didn’t leave it up to him to decide.
“I asked Dein what he meant by giving me the choice. He repeated that the offer was generous.
“To me, that wasn’t the issue. It wasn’t about a good or bad contract – the word that swung the decision for me was ‘neutral’.
“‘If that is how it is,’ I told him, ‘whatever happens now, I’m off. And I’ll go to the club that I choose – because I will be able to choose.’
“The club had made its feelings known – and now it was a straightforward decision.”
Sorry but I simply do not believe this is called passage from Vieira is exactly what happened! Revisionism of the true “history” is more common than not in ex- players reasons for leaving a football club.
No player wants to be painted as at fault and I DO NOT say that he is at fault.
BUT neither, in my considered and life experienced opinion is the club at fault here.
It is far too easy to give a one sided view of any situation and leave all context out .
But unlike some on here, I do not EVER, accept as gospel truth, any public statemement issued by those inside the game, UNTIL I have thought (and independently of fan bias) what is more likely to be the WHOLE truth.
And it seems to my logical thinking mind that there is far more behind this than meets the eye.
I also factor into my thinking, the urge that this site has to so easily misrepresent what really happened and what really is the truth, in favour of articles that receive clicks.
This applies to the journalistic profession in general too – with a minority of honourable exceptions – which is no longer the trustworthy and honourable profession that I wanted to go into as a young lad in the 1950/60s.
I urge all wiser fans to think independently about ALL matters and not to meekly accept ANY statement as gospel truth, until YOU have considered it fully. And leave aside
your fan bias too, IF you are truly wise!