Man. Utd were after Vieira says Ferguson

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said yesterday he had wanted to sign 30-year-old midfielder Patrick Vieira.

Speaking at the unveiling of new defensive midfield signing Michael Carrick, Ferguson admitted his interest in a player who joined Inter earlier in the day from Serie A rivals Juventus.

"Patrick was something we considered, but I believe he has accepted a really good deal from Inter," Ferguson said.

Ferguson also said that Carrick had not been signed as a replacement for former skipper Roy Keane, who quit the club last season.

"Roy Keane is one of the best players of all time," Ferguson said.

"We don't see any new Roy Keanes out there now. Michael is a different type of passer to Roy and is a lot more imaginative in his passing. Like Roy, though, he keeps hold of possession."

Giving details of Carrick's transfer, chief executive David Gill said Manchester United had paid £14 million for Carrick with a further £4.6 million depending on how successful United were in the future.

Meanwhile, Juventus sold Vieira to Inter for 9.5 million euros, less than half what they paid for him a year ago. Juventus said they had booked a capital loss of 8.6 million euros on the sale, part of an exodus of players from the Turin club following a match-fixing scandal that led to their demotion to the second-tier Serie B league.

Inter confirmed the deal, saying Vieira had signed a four-year contract that would tie him to the club until June 2010.

Juve bought Vieira in July 2005 for 20 million euros from Arsenal. He played for Juventus only for one season in 2005-06.

Vieira, a candidate to take over from Zinedine Zidane as captain of France's national side, is the latest player to leave Juventus after the club were relegated to Serie B for conspiring with referees and linesmen to rig games during last season.

Inter were awarded the 2005-06 Italian league title last week after a sports tribunal revoked Juventus's title win.

Vieira returned to Italy last year, having been signed by Arsenal from Inter's city rivals Milan in 1996.