Juventus sell Vieira to Inter for $12.11 million

MILAN: Juventus have sold France midfielder Patrick Vieira to Inter Milan for 9.5 million euros ($12.11 million), less than half what they paid for him a year ago.

Juventus said in a statement that 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 AC Milan in 1996.

The combative 30-year-old, a 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner with France, moved to Turin after helping Arsenal win seven major trophies in nine years in north London.