Sticking to his Gunners

Patrick Vieira drove into work as normal on Thursday morning. He was expecting an average midweek session: some running, stretching, a kickabout, a bit of lunch. Nothing out of the ordinary and Vieira was not unhappy about that.

On Tuesday night Juventus had been beaten at Highbury in the Champions League, a result that further enhanced the self-confidence derived from overcoming Manchester United the week before. It had been a good few days to be an Arsenal footballer. "Confirmation" was the word Vieira used in connection with Tuesday's win.

But when Vieira entered Arsenal's training ground near St Albans, it was to a commotion that disturbed his equilibrium. Upstairs in this bright, modern building, a flurry of preparatory activity was under way to accompany the afternoon announcement that his manager, Arsene Wenger, would be ending his written procrastination by signing a new contract.

Vieira, like the other players, knew this would be occurring some day - Wenger had informed them of his decision - but had no idea of the time or place. Consequently, the midfielder's reaction on seeing Thursday's bustle was: "Why? I saw so many journalists and I was asking why. Afterwards I found out why."

It was not the way one might have expected him to greet such a moment.

But it was more of the good stuff for Arsenal. In what may come to be seen as the pivotal week in the club's modern history, it added to the anticipation that, on Monday night, Islington council will grant permission for the construction of a 60,000-seat stadium 10 minutes up the Holloway Road from Highbury. The birth of a new era.

Should it come to pass, Arsenal will have completed a virtuous circle. And satisfying as that whole will be, there is then the possibility of even greater knock-on effects, a virtuous spiral. Sitting calmly upstairs yesterday afternoon, where 24 hours earlier there had been fuss, Vieira spelt out what they are.

It is impossible to enter a conversation with the Frenchman without an agenda about this great player's future. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus - it is a topic with which he is understandably bored. But when it came to the subject of the new stadium and what it means for Arsenal as a club, Vieira was open. As he went on, the significance of Monday's decision to him became clear.

"It's really important for the club and for the fans," Vieira said. "At Highbury you can get 38,000 or 39,000 and I'm sure more want to come every week. But they can't make it. With the new stadium they could. With the new stadium, Arsenal could become one of the bigger clubs in Europe. If they want to be that, then they have to have that size of ground. Building a new stadium would be fantastic for the club.

"If the council said 'no', then that would be a big blow. I've got my fingers crossed; the chairman and the people who want the new stadium know what they are doing. I don't really think about it because my job is to perform on the pitch, but, at the end of the day, it will be important for all the players in here."

At that reference to his colleagues, Vieira looked around him. But he then returned to the man who allows the rest of Arsenal to play - himself. He has been at the club five seasons now, Wenger's first signing. In that period he has developed from promising 19-year-old into arguably the world's best midfielder. He has given Arsenal magnificent service, but the assumption behind all the tales of Italy and Spain is that Vieira has outgrown his habitat.

Furthermore, he has David Trezeguet on the telephone telling him how great life is in Turin, Zinedine Zidane saying the same about Madrid. Given his towering physique, it would be only natural if Vieira found his head in the clouds over all this flattery.

But he is an impressively cool man, although his presence did fleetingly become tense when he expanded: "All the ambitions I have, in my mind I know that I can achieve them at Arsenal. When you see them keeping the manager, wanting to build a 60,000-seat ground, wanting to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe, wanting to win things - that's the ambition I have. And it's Arsenal's, that's why I don't see any reason to leave.

"I believe in the club, I believe in the chairman and the board, that they will put everything right to make this one of Europe's biggest clubs. I have three years left on my contract and I want to be part of that.

"Arsenal have given me a lot since I joined the club. I hope I have given them the same. I've achieved so much since I joined, I feel I have a responsibility to them. I feel really happy, really comfortable at the club, the people I work with, the players, the fans. The spirit and atmosphere at the club is really good."

It could be said these were the words those Arsenal fans, and Wenger, have been waiting to hear. Wenger certainly will approve; on Thursday he challenged his players to commit themselves to Arsenal in the way he had just done. Now he has his key individual doing so.

Vieira occasionally referred to Wenger as "the boss", as in: "I never really thought about the boss going or leaving because I knew that he would do what he wanted to do. But it's really important for the club to keep him for a long time, because he has a plan, an idea. The new stadium, the boss started that when he came here and I think it's good for him to finish the job he started."

Vieira is wary of looking so far ahead - he reprimanded himself for talking about the trip to Bayer Leverkusen in February - and there is always the danger of Islington council scuppering Arsenal's best-laid plans. At least Vieira has his distractions, not least the captain's armband in Tony Adams's absence. "Yes, it's changed me a little bit," he said. "I have to show more respect, more responsibility on the pitch and not just focus on the game. I know myself pretty well and I know I do bad things, I just try not to do them again. Sometimes I do react in a bad way, but I never try to hurt someone. There is some over-reaction about my temperament."

Everyone at Arsenal will testify to that. Vieira is regarded with huge affection, and not just because of what he does on the park. His smile is a winning one, and it broke across his face when the name of Senegal - he's from there, you know - cropped up .

Drawn to meet France in the opening match of next year's World Cup, Vieira said of his immediate reaction: "I didn't know what to do. It was difficult for me to think. I know I was happy and after that I was really proud. It will be a big day for them, and my grandad has already heard from friends over there. I was proud, so proud."