New adventure across the Alps for Patrick Vieira. The Arsenal legend is expected to sign soon for the club from Genoa (17th in Serie A) who have just sacked their coach Alberto Gilardino. A few months after leaving Strasbourg, the 1998 world champion has found a new bench and will be rediscovering the Italian championship, in which he played three times as a player.

Having played for AC Milan (1995-1996), Juventus Turin (2005-2006) and Inter Milan (2006-2010), Vieira is set to return to Italy, a country that has left him with many fond memories. The former Crystal Palace and Nice coach will become only the third French coach to play outside France, after Regis Le Bris (Sunderland, English D2) and Didier Tholot (Sion, Switzerland). At Genoa, Vieira will be reunited with one of his former players, Mario Balotellianother newcomer who played under him at Nice.