Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira new role confirmed as huge announcement made

Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira has been appointed as the new boss of Serie A side Genoa.

The 48-year-old, who made more than 400 appearances for the and captained the side for three seasons, has agreed a deal to replace Alberto Gilardino as coach of the Italian club. Genoa fired Gilardino on Tuesday after a poor start to the season which has left them just a point above the relegation zone.

They moved quickly for , who had a two-year spell in charge of and has also managed New York City, Nice and, most recently, Strasbourg. "Genoa CFC announces that it has entrusted the technical management of the first team to Patrick Vieira," the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

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"The new coach will lead the first training session after the formalization of the contract in the Villa Rostan headquarters this afternoon. After a professional career, between 2011 and 2015, as Executive Development Football in the Manchester City Academy, Vieira has coached the teams of New York City, Nice, Crystal Palace and Strasbourg. Welcome mister!"

Vieira will be reunited with his former Manchester City team-mate Mario Balotelli, who left Nice while Vieira was the boss in 2019. Vieira later admitted the controversial Italian striker was someone he found "difficult to work with".

The former Arsenal man does have plenty of experience of playing in Italy and had spells with AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan. He is yet to manage a team in Italy, however, and will be keen to implement his ideas at Genoa as quickly as possible.

Genoa currently sit 17th in Serie A having won just two of their 12 games played. They are next in action on Sunday as Vieira welcomes Cagliari to Luigi Ferraris Stadium.