Patrick Vieira urges Arsene Wenger to sign players with ‘physical presence’ for Arsenal

Former captain Patrick Vieira supports manager Arsene Wenger's stringent transfer policy at Arsenal but said reinforcements might be needed.

Patrick Vieira, now the manager of New York City FC, was captain the last time Arsenal won the Premier League. Franck Fife / AFP

Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has said he supports manager Arsene Wenger’s stringent transfer policy but said reinforcements might be needed following the club’s lacklustre start to the Premier League season.

Arsenal played out a goalless draw with champions Leicester City on Saturday after losing their opening game 4-3 to Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium earlier this month.

As Arsenal search for their first win of the season, Wenger has come under increasing scrutiny for his lack of investment in the squad.

Wenger has made three additions to his squad during the current transfer window, bringing in midfielder Granit Xhaka, defender Rob Holding and striker Takuma Asano, but only Xhaka, at £30m, is viewed as a key addition to the first team for this season.

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“I quite admire that, in the world where some clubs have so much money, they go and buy players who are £40 million (Dh193m) and are worth £10m,” said Vieira, who captained Wenger’s last title-winning team in 2004.

“But on the other side the team is not doing as good as it used to and you need to win football matches. They’ve been disappointing, losing games they should have won.

“My generation had lots of physically strong players. In this last five or six years, Arsenal went more with this type of mobile, technical players.

“Now when I watch Arsenal, yes they play good football but I just have a feeling they are missing something — the physical presence, the personality, this is what they’re missing.”

Manchester United spent £89m to bring back Paul Pogba from Juventus, and Vieira said he hoped the France midfielder will not crumble under the pressure of the tag of being the world’s most expensive player.

“I think he’s a fantastic player, no doubt about it, but I also believe the Premier League is different, and there will be a lot of pressure on his shoulders because of the price tag and expectation,” New York City FC manager Vieira said.

“He will have to find the right balance because if he thinks he will win games by himself that will be a massive mistake for him, if he tries to do something that he can’t do that will be a massive mistake as well.”

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