The France captain spent nine successful seasons at Arsenal before leaving for Italy and spells with Juventus and Inter.

The Premiership was for a long time considered weaker than many European leagues, and in particular those in Italy and Spain.

But with three English teams through to the Champions League semi-finals - Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, Vieira feels the balance of power has now shifted.

"Without a doubt the best and most competitive league at the moment is the Premiership," Vieira said at a Ford 'Feel Football' event in Milan.

"Liverpool won the Champions League two years ago, Arsenal reached the final last year and this season, three English teams made it to the semi-final stages.

"They are showing that English football is going well and what makes them strong is that they have this passion and a way to play the game which other countries don't have."

Vieira thoroughly enjoyed his time at Arsenal, winning two Premiership and FA Cup doubles as well as leading the Gunners in their unbeaten league campaign in 2003/04.

"My fondest memory at Arsenal was the first time we won the double (in 1998)," he said.

"It was not only because of what it meant for the club but because of how hard we worked in order to achieve it."

He left Highbury in 2005 to join Juventus but his one season at the Stadio Delle Alpi ended with the club being demoted to Serie B due to their part in the match-fixing scandal.

However, the 30-year-old does not regret joining the Bianconeri, especially as it gave him the chance to work with Fabio Capello, now boss at Real Madrid.

Vieira sees a number of similarities between former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and Capello.

"Although Wenger is really calm on the bench and Capello expresses himself a bit more, I think the passion they both feel for the game is quite similar," he added.

"Capello is more into tactical work while Wenger looks at the general picture but then again the way they want their team to play is almost the same.

"My relationship with all of my last three coaches has been good and I have always been able to talk to them which is really important."

Despite working under some of the game's best tacticians, Vieira does not fancy moving into management himself when the time comes for him to hang up his boots.

"At the moment I don't see myself going down that route," he said.

"I would like to take a couple of years off once I retire from the game and enjoy my family a little bit more.

"Having said that, I enjoy training the kids so I could change my mind in the future."