'Vieira still thinking of moving'

Vieira has kept silent about the possibility of ending his eightyear stay at Arsenal throughout a month of speculation.

His agent, Steve Kutner, denied reports last week that Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein flew to Austria to hold talks with Vieira.

But the pair were seen talking at the Hilton Hotel here yesterday.

Vieira has played no part in the Amsterdam Tournament because of a thigh injury sustained at Euro 2004 and Arsenal finished bottom of a four-team group after last night's 0-0 draw with Ajax followed another blank scoreline against River Plate.

Wenger has claimed throughout that he is 100 per cent confident Vieira will stay but has never revealed details of their conversations or asserted that his captain is still happy at Highbury.

Last night he appeared to put the ball back into Vieira's court by suggesting that any transfer would be down to the player.

"I've never changed my version on Patrick. We don't need money and that will not decide us at all," he said. "It does not matter how much it is, the club wants to keep him. We are not out there to have a big bank account but a big team.

"You conclude what you want but our desire is to keep Patrick and not make money. We are not in a sorry financial situation. We are not Chelsea and have to look at what we spend but we do not need to sell our players."

Further blows to Wenger's preseason preparations include the injuries to Thierry Henry and Sol Campbell. None have played since returning from Portugal and Vieira and Henry, who has an Achilles problems, have only a slim chance of being fit for the start of the season.

Campbell will be sidelined for six weeks with an Achilles injury and has already been ruled out of Arsenal's Premiership opener against Everton on 15 August.

Wenger is considering a compensation claim against the FA for not detecting the defender's injury and playing him for England in Portugal. The club have only just sent Campbell for specialist treatment because they were not aware of the problem until he returned for pre-season after extended leave.

But Wenger said physio Gary Lewin, who works for Arsenal and England, was not to blame. He said: "I do not know enough about the rules to know if we have a case.

"For me it is a question of lost time and information rather than money. But I don't believe it is Gary Lewin's responsibility to make a scan."