Patrick Vieira has agreed to become the new Crystal Palace boss.
Palace are hoping to complete a deal within the next 48 hours after extensive talks with the World Cup winner.
That will be seen as a major coup for Palace to get a big name to take charge at Selhurst Park but also something of a gamble as he is still a relatively inexperienced boss.
Vieira, 45, currently working as an ITV pundit for the Euros, began his coaching career within Manchester City ’s set-up, went to their New York City team in the MLS and had two years at Nice.
Arsenal legend Vieira did well in his first season but lost his job in December 2020 and has recently been part of a group of club legends involved in Spotify billionaire Daniel Ek’s attempts to buy Arsenal.
Palace had Vieira on their early shortlist to replace Roy Hodgson who left at the end of the season but have since missed out on other targets.
They were close to agreement with former Wolves boss Nuno and also held talks with ex-Borussia Dortmund Lucien Favre.
Palace were keen on Swansea boss Steve Cooper and were linked with ex-Chelsea boss Frank Lampard but the ex-England midfielder never came close to taking charge.
Vieira faces a big rebuilding job at Selhurst Park as the club have a host of players out of contract this summer, including former England winger Andros Townsend, Gary Cahill and Scott Dann.
The uncertainty over the new manager plus the bigger concern about finances because of the new Premier League TV deal has meant chairman Steve Parish has had to put talks on hold.
That will leave Vieira with a big task with the players due to return to pre-season training by Monday which was Palace’s target to have a new boss in charge.
