Patrick Vieira

With Patrick Vieira making a return to the Premier league with Manchester City on a six-month deal, his introduction into the City midfield could have a significant impact on their chance of breaking into the top four this season.

Whilst playing with Arsenal, his impact on the team made a significant difference. Of the 31 games he played in his final season at Highbury (04/05), Arsenal lost only five, whereas after his departure in the summer of 05/06, Arsenal lost 11 of their 38 league games the following season. Moreover, the Gunners conceded just 0.90 goals per game with Vieira in 04/05 compared to 1.14 without him, despite winning six of those seven matches. Surprisingly give their results Arsenal actually conceded fewer goals in 05/06 – down to 0.82 goals per game – as their problems were largely going forward.

His only season at Juventus was successful as they lost only one of the 31 games he played, while conceding just 0.71 goals per game, on the way to claiming the Scudetto (a title they later lost in the fallout from the match fixing scandal). Impressively, Juve won all seven of the games Vieira missed that season while conceding just twice, although they were mostly against bottom-half teams.

However, at Inter Milan he became an increasingly peripheral figure as he managed only 45 games and suffered six defeats, while Inter lost only four of the 87 games he did not appear in, although there was little difference in the Nerazzurri’s defensive stats whether or not the Frenchman was playing. Moreover, he had played just 14 of 56 games since Jose Mourinho became manager at the start of last season.

A comparison with three other highly successful defensive players to move around the Premier League after their 30th birthdays in recent years suggests this could be a very shrewd piece of business by Man City, with the added experience proving a successful addition in each of these cases below:

Claude Makelele

At 30 years of age, Makelele was three years younger than Vieira is now when he moved from Real Madrid to Chelsea in the summer of 2003. Makelele became an integral part of the Blues’ system and played for the West London team for five seasons before moving back to France.

Between 2004/05 and 2007/08 Makelele played 103 and missed 49 of Chelsea’s games during which their results were very consistent as they averaged 2.34 PPG with the Frenchman compared to 2.31 without. However, there was a noticeable increase in their goals conceded in this period when he was missing with a 17% increase from 0.54 per game to 0.63.

Didier Hamann

Hamann moved from Liverpool to Manchester City before the 06/07 season, just before his 33rd birthday, where he played for three seasons till his contract expired last summer.

While the former Newcastle midfielder was more often a reserve – playing 36 while missing 78 games during his time there – his results were impressive with City maintaining a win rate of 42% with him compared to 33% without and losing just 31% with him to 49% without. As a consequence City’s PPG fell from 1.53 to 1.18 when Hamann wasn’t playing.

Sol Campbell

Campbell moved down to the south coast at the start of the 06/07 season and became a massive success as he managed to add another FA Cup triumph to his CV.

The former Spurs defender was the central figure in Pompey’s defence during his time there as he played 94 and missed just 23 of their matches. His impact was highly significant as Pompey won 36% of matches with him compared to 26% without, whilst their loss rate went up from 35% to 52% in his absence. The net result of this was a fall in PPG from 1.37 to 1.00, while the cause in this drop in results is clear by the 40% increase in goals conceded when he was absent; up from 1.15 per game to 1.61.