New York City FC coach Patrick Vieira is continuing to attract interest from European soccer teams. France’s Nantes is now looking to bring Vieira for the next season after they parted ways with former Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri.
Nantes president Waldemar Kita spoke with L’Equipe on Thursday and said that the team is already looking for Ranieri’s replacement with Patrick Vieira being one of the candidates for the job. Kita also said that the team doesn’t have a preference and just wants to bring in a good coach.
“We’re thinking about everyone,” – he added confirming that he already had talks with former Bordeaux coach Jocelyn Gourvennec and Catalonia coach Gerard Lopez.
Nantes decided to part ways with Claudio Ranieri, although the 66-year-old took over the team last season and had one year left on his contract. After a good start of the season, Nantes fell into a slump and will finish in the middle of the table, missing out on European competitions one again.
Patrick Vieira was recently linked with his former club Arsenal and was reportedly considered as one of the candidates to replace the departing manager Arsene Wenger. Still, it looks like Arsenal will turn to their other former player, Mikel Arteta, who currently serves as an assistant with Manchester City.
Vieira recently discussed the reports that linked him with Arsenal job, saying that it would be an honor for him but also said that he is ready to coach any side in Europe.
“It’s an honor to be mentioned with Arsenal,” – said Vieira. “It was somewhere I spent nine years and I love the club. I played my best football there and made my name in the game. I am always going to have a deeper relationship with Arsenal. That [alone] is not enough to coach that team, but I’m ready to coach any side in Europe.“
