Patrick Vieira (born June 23, 1976 in Dakar, Senegal) is a French midfield football midfielder. He is currently the captain of Arsenal and won the World Cup with France in 1998.

An elegant and powerful defensive central midfielder, current Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger asked for him to be bought from A.C. Milan before he took the position as coach. In 2003-04 at Arsenal, he captained the side on a historic unbeaten run in the Premier League. In the 2004 offseason, he was linked with Spanish superpower Real Madrid in transfer speculation; Real offered Arsenal €35 million for Vieira, but Arsenal rejected the offer.

For France, Viera has appeared 79 times, scoring four goals (as of early 2005). Other than the World Cup triumph, he also won and appeared in the and Euro 2004.

Teams

• Cannes Football Club (1993-1995)
• A.C. Milan (1995-1996)
• Arsenal F.C. (1996-present)

• French national team (since January 1997)

Honors

• FIFA World Cup
  • Appearances: 1998 2002
  • Winner: World Cup 1998
• European Championship
  • Appearances: 2000 2004
  • Winner: Euro 2000
• English Premiership titles (3) : 1998 2002 2004
• English FA Cup (3) : 1998 2002 2003
• Selected to FIFA 100: 2004
• Carlsberg Player of the Year  : 2004