Arsene Wenger has delivered a resounding endorsement of Manuel Pellegrini by saying the under-pressure Manchester City manager has "super quality" and declining to endorse suggestions Patrick Vieira should replace him.
The Frenchman believes his former captain, who was his first signing for Arsenal and is now in charge of City's Elite Development Squad, has the potential to become a high-class manager.
But while Vieira could be a candidate to take over from Pellegrini if the Chilean is sacked, Wenger said he felt the 61-year-old should keep his job.
"I believe like many other players he [Vieira] has the intelligence and the competence to do this job, but I believe that Pellegrini is of super-competence and super-quality as well -- so if you want me to interfere in that, I am not ready to do it," Wenger said in a news conference.
Pellegrini won the Premier League and the Capital One Cup in his first season in England but is under pressure after City's title challenge ended in what the former Real Madrid manager admitted is a "very bad 2015" for them.
Wenger's Arsenal contributed to their problems by winning 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium in January while City had lost six of their previous eight games before last week's win against West Ham.
Vieira, who won three Premier League titles in nine seasons as an Arsenal player before joining Juventus in 2005, retired as a player in 2011.
He then became City's Football Development Executive before moving into coaching in 2013, but is yet to take a first-team job.
The Frenchman is highly regarded at the Etihad Stadium for his work with City's youth teams while, of other possible candidates to replace Pellegrini, Pep Guardiola has said he will stay at Bayern Munich for another season and Jurgen Klopp is not a target for the Premier League champions.