Vieira left Arsenal to join Juventus for £13.7m last summer
French police are hunting the intruders who used gas to knock out Juventus midfielder Patrick Vieira before burgling his French Riviera villa.
Police scientists discovered that gas was pumped into the air conditioning system to keep the 29-year-old and his family asleep.
The former Arsenal player has returned to training with the France World Cup squad following a health check.
The intruders stole jewellery before leaving in Vieira's Mercedes.
The car was later found abandoned in Nice.
A police spokesman said: "We are now involved in a hunt for these burglars and we cannot say if they knew this was the home of the footballer or not."
Vieira spent nine seasons at Arsenal before signing for Juventus last summer and has won 84 caps for his country.
Didn't really like him as a player I thought he was a "hardman" who could dish it out but acted like a baby when anyone touched him, But nobody deserves that.
