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Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Claude Makelele is tipping Patrick Vieira’s potential return to Arsenal from Inter this summer to be a success.

Vieira has been linked with a move back to north London this week, with manager Arsene Wenger revealing the Frenchman has made the Gunners his top priority.

Former Chelsea star Makelele, whose time in England overlapped with Vieira’s, believes his international team-mate still has plenty to offer the club.

“Patrick is still a good player,” Makelele said at a press conference for the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament.

“He’s still a big player. I think he’s still one of the best midfielders in the world.”

Makelele also reserved praise for another rumoured Arsenal target in Saint-Etienne’s Blaise Matuidi, likening him to a mixture of two dynamic players.

He continued, “He’s a good midfielder. I think he’s going to Arsenal possibly.

“He is like me and Steven Gerrard. He’d do a good job I think.”

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The Gunners romped to victory in Vienna with a seven-goal rout over the minnows of SC Columbia - kick-started when they fell behind to a freak goal early in the first half.

Nicklas Bendtner equalised within a minute and - along with Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey - went on to net a double.

William Gallas was the other scorer as the slick flowing football delighted the 6,900 packed into the tiny Schwarzlackenau Stadium.

Calamity keeper Manuel Almunia was at fault for the amateurs taking the lead when his clearance ricocheted back off Patrick Lehner straight into the net.

But after Bendtner had restored parity, Ramsey fired the visitors ahead and Bendtner struck again for a comfortable interval lead.

Van Persie bagged a penalty and headed a goal from Bacary Sagna’s cross to make it 5-1 before Gallas and Ramsey polished off the rout.

To put the opposition into perspective, SC Columbia’s star man was 44-year-old free-kick specialist Julius Sim.

Wenger’s men now head across the border to Hungary for Monday’s friendly at Szombathelyi.

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has gone directly to Arsenal to offer Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has purchased a house near London following his £13.8 million move from Spartak Moscow last summer. The Russian international is out of favour at White Hart Lane and may seek a switch to the Emirates.

Pavlyuchenko has been linked with several clubs over the past few weeks, including Stuttgart, Villarreal and Besiktas. The 27-year-old striker may favour a move across north London, where Arsene Wenger is short on attacking options after the sale of Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City earlier this week.

Wenger also reportedly remains interested in Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh, Hoffenheim’s Demba Ba and Newcastle United’s Obafemi Martins, while Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac has emerged as a prime target.

Spurs boss Redknapp has directly approached Wenger for the striker, Roma are reportedly also monitoring Pavlyuchenko’s situation. The player’s representative, Viktor Kolar, has said, “I don’t know anything. By reading the papers I learned that the club [Roma] would make a move for the player, but with regards to myself no one has made me aware of anything.

“I don’t have any idea how they can write that Roman will be at Roma.  I spoke to the management and I know that next year he will be part of a serious project. “He still has many years on his contract and he intends to prove also in England how much he is worth.”

Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have attracted plenty of comparisons from the football world asBarcelona and Inter prepare to swap their two superstars.

Andres Iniesta is the latest to share his views on the two goalscoring machines, and he only had kind words for the pair.

“The transfer is not yet completed and Eto’o remains our friend,” he was quoted as saying.

“I have great respect for him and I will always wish the best for him.

“As for Ibrahimovic, he is a player with a lot of quality. He is one of the best strikers in the world and if he comes, he will be very well received by everyone.”

The versatile midfielder then went on to stress the need for Barca to strengthen the squad despite their stunning march to the treble last season.

“We must improve to avoid a repeat of the complacency that we experienced three years ago,” he warned.

“But I believe that the club are doing things well at the moment. There is still a lot of time to finalise our squad and make improvements.”

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