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It appears as though Ferguson has instructed the money brokers at Old Trafford to go out and buy Patrick Vieira and they are believed to be preparing a bid in excess of £20 million.
To be fair, the Arsenal board have shown resolve in the past. It's not the first time we have had to resist overtures from United where Vieira is concerned and, with David Dein coming out and stating that Vieira is not for sale it appears as though we are gearing up to do so again. But, as all Gooners should know by now, what is said in football one day can often easily differ from what actually happens the next.
We cannot forget that we do live in the real world and no Arsenal fan can hide away from the fact that our skipper has just a year on his contract left and, if he so wished, Vieira could leave us and join United for nothing in a year's time. Ferguson knows it too and sad though it is admit it, I think United would be in pole position to get him if Arsenal agreed to let Vieira leave.
It's highly unlikely that he would move, for example, to Juventus or any other club in Serie A given the high profile spat he had with Lazio's Sinisa Mihajlovic. His life would be hell if he ever went back over there.
What of a move to Real Madrid? Well, it may still be a possibility. They may have signed Beckham but nobody knows for certain whether he will be a direct replacement for Figo on Real's right hand side or whether he will play a central role.
If the former proves to be correct then it is possible that Madrid might want to pair Vieira with Makelele in a holding position in central midfield. And, as we have seen in recent years, if they want someone bad enough, money does not tend to be an object.
However, if he did go to Madrid then he will suddenly find that he is just another expensive foreign commodity that will be used and exploited one minute and made expendable the next.
Even established, home grown Real Madrid stalwarts like Vicente Del Bosque and Hierro have recently found out exactly how cut throat life at the Bernabeu can be. After giving a combined service of 50 years to the club, they were both dumped on the scrap heap by the Real president at the weekend. If ever there was a situation to evoke some food for thought in Vieira's mind, then this is it.
All of this brings me back to what I have said time and time again and that is I hope Vieira is practical enough to realise that from a footballing point of view, there is NO other club in Europe (least of all United) that can really offer him any more than he has got at Highbury.
The only real reason for him to leave Arsenal, at the end of the day, is for more money and if he wants to chase the extra dollar then the club have to make a straight choice.
If we cannot show the resolve to keep him we should sell him - NOW. That way, we will at least come out of it with a few quid and some dignity. Letting Vieira go (possibly to United) for nothing is something that the club would NEVER be able to live down.