Vieira's performance against Charlton on 14 September 2002 - incidentally his 200th league appearance for Arsenal - "justified Wenger's faith in his captain's fitness" [REF].
In spite of growing interest to sign Vieira, not least from Manchester United, Real Madrid and Chelsea in the summer of 2003, the player agreed terms to stay at Arsenal and signed a deal which ran until 2007 [REF].