Patrick Vieira joined the Blues on a six-month loan deal from Italian champions Inter Milan on January 7 2010, becoming manager Roberto Mancini’s first signing.  

One of the Premier League’s most iconic figures, having been at the heart of  Arsenal’s successes in the previous decade, he figured regularly after overcoming an initial injury but disappointingly missed out on France's squad for the World Cup.

He began his career with Cannes and then played briefly at AC Milan, the 6’3” Senegal-born midfielder made his name via 279 appearances for Arsene Wenger’s side. During his time at Highbury he won three Premier League titles and lifted the FA Cup four times. He was also an integral part of the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ side that went unbeaten throughout the entire 2003-4 Premier League season.

In Italy with Juventus and Inter he won four league titles (one of which was taken away from Juve), and two Italian Super Cups. Vieira has 107 France caps to his name, having won both the World Cup in 1998 and European Championships in 2000.

Patrick holds one of the top awards in France, the Legion d’Honneur awarded in 1998.