Patrick Vieira Quotes

I would never have left Everton if it hadn't been Manchester United.

Other clubs never came into my thoughts once I knew Arsenal wanted to sign me.

When Manchester City came for me it was the best choice to come here.

When Real Madrid want you, it is difficult to say 'No' but, when I got there, I knew I could not stay longer.

There were a lot of clubs interested in me - a lot, really. But Manchester United appeared and didn't go away. They absolutely wanted me, and it happened.

There were a lot of clubs interested in me, but United is the only club that I would have left Real Madrid for.

I have great respect for the Premier League, but why leave Milan? I've got everything I want here.

Chelsea is a top club, and I have many friends there, but you cannot turn down the chance to join Manchester United.

It's difficult to say no when Manchester City want you and you could play there. That much I have to admit.

When I left Ajax in 1999, I travelled to Liverpool and spoke to Houllier. I was shown around Anfield and also met with the chairman and a couple of the players. I thought about it, but when Juventus came to the table, I came to the conclusion that it would be a bigger challenge to play in Italy.

Manuel Pellegrini had convinced me to go with him to Manchester City. I was doing very well at Malaga, but I accepted.

I am gratified by Arsenal's interest, certainly, but my objective is to come back for Milan and do well at Milan.

If one day I leave Arsenal, I will never sign for another English team. Quite sure.

I had always said I will like to play for Milan at some stage in my career, so when the opportunity came up, I grabbed it with both hands.

I think that with West Ham, it was more complicated for me. It happened naturally; there was urgency to leave West Ham.

When the chance came to join a great club like Liverpool, I weighed up my options and it was obviously the best move for me.

I have spent three and a half wonderful years at Arsenal, and I bring with me very positive memories of that great club and its fans.

Malaga were the club that bid the hardest for me, and they were the first, too. When Villarreal told me that they wanted to sell me, I chose them.

It's nice there are a lot of big clubs that are interested in me, but if one of those is Barcelona, that's special.

If Inter decide to sell me, I'll pack my bags and go. If not, I'll stay here in Milan where I am honestly very happy.

With Arsenal there was an interest but not a big as other clubs. That is why I didn't go to Arsenal and went to Chelsea.

It is true that I did not want to leave Milan. That changed when Zlatan Ibrahimovic came from Barcelona. Then I realised that for me it is better to go.

I really like Manchester City. They have put everything into trying to sign me so that I can be there and that is welcome.

I was close to joining Barcelona and Real Madrid, but I am happy to have remained at Inter because I knew that sooner or later our moment to shine would arrive, and it did.

The main factor in joining Arsenal was meeting with Arsene Wenger and to hear what his plans were for me.