The arrival of Patrick Vieira as the new coach of Senegal comes at a particularly difficult time for the national team – so much so that there is the possibility the former France captain may not even take charge of the Teranga Lions.

The 50-year-old’s appointment has been announced despite him not having signed a contract, and the date of his official presentation remains unknown.

Senegal’s football federation (FSF), which is currently riven by off-field issues, said discussions regarding the “administrative and contractual arrangements” for Vieira are continuing between the two parties.

The ex-Arsenal and Inter Milan midfielder was unanimously approved as the man to succeed Pape Thiaw at an FSF meeting on Monday, with former Netherlands international Patrick Kluivert among the other names considered.

However, uncertainty surrounding the termination of Thiaw’s deal remains.

Vieira’s predecessor was sacked following the dramatic last-32 exit to Belgium at the Fifa World Cup without Senegal’s government, which funds the national team, formally endorsing the decision.

He is demanding the payment of several months’ worth of outstanding wages as well as various bonuses, with the total reportedly amounting to almost $815,000 (£600,000).

Meanwhile, a ruling on the election of the current FSF leadership – which has been contested for the past year – is expected from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) by Friday.

With the FSF leadership increasingly isolated, without the backing of the government or the general public’s support, and constrained by the impending Cas ruling, it nevertheless had little choice but to act quickly to fill the Teranga Lions hotseat.

The calendar will not wait, with Senegal back in action in the qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on 23 September when they travel to Mozambique in their Group J opener. A meeting with Ethiopia follows days later.

The Cas ruling in Lausanne could call into question the legitimacy of the FSF hierarchy and potentially even the choice of Vieira as head coach.

Moreover, for all his achievements as one of the greatest footballers of the modern era Vieira’s record in management has been less impressive.

Beyond all of that, Vieira’s connection with Senegal carries a deeply symbolic significance.

Born in Dakar in June 1976 to a Cape Verdean mother and a Gabonese father, Vieira began kicking a football around the sandy streets of the capital until the age of eight.

His family moved to France and his life went in a different direction, becoming a Premier League icon during his time with Arsenal, amassing over a century of France caps, and helping Les Blues to the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000.

He faced Senegal only once as a player, in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup when France suffered a shock 1-0 defeat against a generation led by Aliou Cisse and including Thiaw – the two men whose coaching legacy he is now following.

But Vieira never truly severed ties with the country of his birth.

Indeed, one of his most significant contributions came towards the end of his playing career when he made a major investment in the creation of the Diambars Institute.

It would go on to become one of Africa’s leading football academies and, less than two decades later, one of the foundations of Senegal’s recent success.

Diambars has produced players including Idrissa Gana Gueye, Bamba Dieng and Abdoulaye Seck, all of whom have played a part in Senegal’s story since 2018.

Crowned champions of Africa for the first time in February 2022 at the delayed 2021 Afcon, the Teranga Lions secured a second title with a 1-0 win after extra time in January’s Afcon final. However, the ultimate destination of the trophy will be settled by Cas after Thiaw called his side off the pitch following a controversial penalty awarded to hosts Morocco in stoppage time.

The challenge facing Vieira is the rebuild of a team attempting to look towards the future after one of the most successful chapters in its history.

There is plenty of promising young talent coming through but those players will have to carry the weight of a formidable legacy left by the old guard of Sadio Mane, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Gana Gueye.

The shortlist for the new coach included Kluivert, Vieira’s compatriot Patrice Carteron and two former Senegal internationals in Habib Beye and Oumar Daf.

The Frenchman dropped a series of hints that he was in the running to take charge, most notably during the unusually high-profile coverage of his recent holiday in Senegal.

Vieira amassed a glittering list of honours as a player but has found similar success hard to come by as a manager.

He began his coaching career with New York City FC in 2016, leading them into the play-offs in both of his two seasons at the helm, only to see his team lose twice in MLS conference semi-finals, including a 7-0 aggregate hammering by Toronto FC.

He then guided Nice to creditable seventh- and fifth-placed finishes in Ligue 1 before being sacked in December 2020 and joining Crystal Palace in July 2021.

Vieira earned praise for an attacking style as he led the Eagles to a 12th-placed finish in the Premier League and the FA Cup semi-finals in 2021-22, but was dismissed in March 2023 when Palace were three points above the relegation zone following an 11-match winless run in the league.

Then-chairman Steve Parish said the decision was taken with “enormous regret” but in order to keep the Selhurst Park side in the top flight.

Then came a year at Strasbourg and another mid-table finish in Ligue 1. The Frenchman’s most recent job was at Italian side Genoa, whom he departed by mutual consent last November with the team winless and bottom of Serie A.

International management presents its own challenges and, with defeated candidate Mady Toure contesting last August’s election of FSF president Abdoulaye Fall, Vieira may find his long-awaited return to Senegal far more dramatic than he intended.