Patrick Vieira: No better manager for Arsenal than Arsene Wenger

Patrick Vieira says Arsenal will not find a better manager than Arsene Wenger currently and said it was the right decision for him to continue at the club.

Wenger faced calls to quit after Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League and failed to qualify for the Champions League, although they did win the FA Cup for a third time in four seasons.

Wenger ended speculation about his future by signing a new two-year contract that will keep him at the club until 2019, but Vieira warned of the importance of succession planning.

"He shouldn't [leave Arsenal] because I don't think at the moment Arsenal can find a better manager than Arsene, honestly," the former Arsenal captain told ESPN FC.

"He has been at the club for so long and I think that is something that you have to prepare. Because when you look at other clubs around, when you look at managers who stayed at the club for years and years... it is not easy at all. And I think that it is something that you have to prepare because when you have stayed for 20 years in a club it is not like two years.

"To replace Arsene will be tough, it will be really difficult, and I think that is something that you have to plan."

When asked if he would replace Wenger, Vieira laughed off the suggestion and said: "Not for the next two years, no."

Vieira is now coach of MLS side New York City FC and for now he is focused on the project of building a club that was only founded in 2013 into a successful team.

"I love challenges, of course," he said. "Coming here to New York and trying to take the team in a different stage is challenging and this is the drive that I need and that I want as well.

"I believe as well that I am surrounded by people who can make that project successful."