Source: Daily_Mail
EXCLUSIVE: Vieira planned retirement at end of season before City swoop
Patrick Vieira was preparing to retire at the end of this season until new Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini rescued him from his Inter hibernation.[LNB]The 33-year-old French midfield player had decided to quit the game unless a big club came in for him by the summer according to Tony Adams, the man Vieira succeeded as Arsenal captain, finds himself the grateful recipient of an 18-month contract and preparing for the start of life in the Premier League against Blackburn Rovers. [LNB] Last hurrah: Patrick Vieira was ready to retire until Manchester Roberto Mancini made his move[LNB] Adams and Vieira remain friends and had lunch in Milan before Christmas, when the former Portsmouth manager was spending two weeks at Inter observing Jose Mourinho's training methods.[LNB]Adams said: 'Pat was not playing much for Inter but getting on with his job as a professional Bernstein and seeing out what was a huge contract.[LNB]'He had thought about going to America but was resigned to the fact that if no big club wanted him, he was happy to hang his boots up and call it a day.'[LNB]Now all has changed, with Mancini, Mourinho's predecessor at the San Siro, recruiting Vieira again on an astonishing £130,000 a week having previously signed him from Juventus. And Adams believes Vieira could prove invaluable.[LNB]'I watched him train every day and he was on good form,' said Adams. 'Mourinho is playing a 4-3-3 and I expect Inter to win the Italian title with it but he saw Patrick as[LNB]back-up, playing maybe a dozen games in the season. How he was at Inter is not how he was at Arsenal because at that age he is not going to be at the top of his game.[LNB]'The requirement in the Premier League now is box-to-box for a midfield player but I think he can still add to the strength of a squad.[LNB]'If you are looking to him to play 40 games a season and get you out of trouble, that's a tough call.'[LNB] MANCHESTER CITY
