"I have three years left on my contract but we are already talking about a new deal which could be for five or six more years. If everything is right I will have no problem signing for so long if we keep winning trophies and competing with the biggest clubs in Europe, there's no reason for me to leave the club."

He doesn't hide away from what happened in the summer either, admitting that he was contemplating trying to move to our biggest rivals.

"Why not Manchester United? In football anything is possible. It's not that I was thinking to leave but my agent came to me and said people were interested in me. And when it is a big club like Manchester United or Real Madrid, then you have to be interested. There were talks, although I never personally met anyone from Manchester United, Real Madrid or Juventus. But my agent did. That's his job."

But Arsenal persuaded him otherwise. "...they convinced me that they want to be just like Real Madrid and Juventus. They are determined to become one of their biggest clubs in Europe. That's what I wanted to hear, and I believe them and trust them so I'm happy to stay."

This all fits in with what most observers seemed to be saying for some time. That Vieira did consider leaving Arsenal, but that the nature of the revelations, such as the quotes about Arsenal not finishing in the top 5 and slagging off his team-mates, were not of his making.

See Soccernet for more quotes.