Wenger knows why Vieira's gone

SOCCER The Arsenal manager has taken his last chance to cash in big on Patrick Vieira. Jon Brodkin wonders where the next central figure for Arsenal will come from

When Arsenal's chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, was discussing Patrick Vieira's possible sale to Juventus this week, he made a remark most people would instinctively agree with. "It will be very, very difficult to replace Patrick," he said.

However, manager Arsene Wenger clearly thinks otherwise.

After the disappointment of only winning the FA Cup last season - and that fortuitously - a period of transition without Vieira will be the last thing on Wenger's mind. Strong domestic and European challenges are vital and the manager believes he can make his team stronger without his captain and the driving force behind much of his success. Arsenal fans will trust the popular catchphrase again: Arsene knows.

Wenger has been brave in disposing of a player who has been with him from the start at Highbury and he goes into this season with a notably changed pool of midfielders. Gone from the centre is not just Vieira but Edu, and Robert Pires could leave having refused a one-year contract extension. Pires's goals - 17 last season, 19 the season before - would surely be sorely missed.

So would Vieira at his most commanding. But the France international was below that for most of last season, admittedly hampered by an ankle problem, and Wenger believes he has seen the best of his captain at 29. He has taken his last real chance to cash in on Vieira, feeling he can use the fee to enhance his squad.

Vieira has still left a big gap to fill. With several weeks remaining of the transfer window, it is too early to assess the impact of his absence. So far only Alexander Hleb has arrived, but a central midfielder is now needed to join Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva. Wenger is also seeking a striker and assessing defenders and goalkeepers.

Vieira has been a symbol of Arsenal's power and grace in midfield and Flamini has not yet suggested he is up to the task of replacing him. Wenger rates Fabregas extremely highly, but it would be asking a lot of a player just turned 18 to play a full Premiership and Champions League season alongside Gilberto.

A youngish signing seems inevitable as Wenger combines his drive for the present with an eye on the future. Interest in Jermaine Jenas is understandable. The Newcastle player is an experienced 22-year-old with the potential to develop into a similar figure to Vieira. Though not as tall, at 5ft 11in he would be of use in defending set-pieces, where Arsenal sometimes struggled last season.

Of other targets, Mahamadou Diarra signed a two-year contract extension at Lyon on Tuesday and Julio Baptista, the Sevilla striker who started his career in midfield, is being courted by Barcelona and has said he wants to stay in Spain.

With Sol Campbell or Thierry Henry the likeliest candidates to take over as captain, the departure of Vieira provokes another change.

"It is in many respects the end of an era," said Terry Neill, the former Arsenal player and manager. "But I have total faith in Arsene Wenger and his judgment, and I don't think too many people could query that."

Few, if any, of the big-name players sold by Wenger have gone on to better things. There are echoes here of his disposal of Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars to Barcelona in 2000 after his team had finished 18 points behind Manchester United, with Pires and Sylvain Wiltord among those then purchased.

Arsenal needed two years to win a trophy, but Wenger was proved correct in assessing that Petit and Overmars were in decline.

The sale of Vieira sums up Wenger's sometimes-overlooked ruthless streak. It is notable the manager has chosen to have the final say on when Vieira's time at Highbury is up. For several summers Vieira agitated for a move or seriously considered leaving. Now, when he was happy to stay and his future at Highbury seemed assured, the manager has sold him.

Only two months ago, in the build-up to the cup final against Manchester United, Vieira said he was looking forward to "a really exciting season" in 2005-2006. There was no thought of departure.

"I have two years left on my contract," he said, "and I will be here, no doubt about it."

Now Arsenal are planning for a future without him. They got wonderful service from Vieira, whose stay included three league championships and four FA Cups.

Remarkably, they have also made a profit of £10 million - or almost 300 per cent - on the former Milan player after almost a decade's service. Now Wenger must show that his team can profit without their talisman.