Real Madrid have been strongly linked to the midfielder but Vieira would not discuss the matter, preferring to bask in the glory of the double success.

He said: ‘‘The spirit was fantastic and I think we played fantastically. I’m really happy.

‘‘We wanted to win it here. We knew it would be a difficult game but we just worked really hard and scored a fantastic goal.

‘‘We knew at the start of the season we had a team that could win the league.

‘‘I’ve proved the club means a lot to me. I hope I have given the club back what it deserves.’’

Arsenal veteran Lee Dixon won his fourth championship medal and revealed: ‘‘It gets better and better. It has been an outstanding season.

‘‘I’ll be hanging my boots up soon but it’s brilliant to be a part of this squad. It’s the best I’ve played with, with depth in every position.’’

Dixon was an Arsenal player when the Gunners won the league title at Anfield in 1989 - and admitted there were similarities in last night’s 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

He said: ‘‘It was a little bit like Anfield in 1989. Psychologically needing a point is sometimes difficult.

‘‘But it typifies our season - we’ve come here and beaten one of the best sides in Europe, and the United players know we’ve deserved it this season.’’

Dixon is delighted the title has been clinched for those who played last night and those who were injured.

Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Tony Adams and Giovanni van Bronckhorst were among last night’s absentees and Dixon continued: ‘‘It’s easy to say we’ve done it for them, but they have had excellent seasons and to win nothing would have been a disaster. We’ve won it for them and ourselves.’’

Arsenal’s England goalkeeper David Seaman added: ‘‘It’s brilliant to win it here and keep the unbeaten away record.

‘‘We’ve got so much to look forward to - getting the trophy in front of our fans on Saturday (against Everton). We want to give them some pleasure.

‘‘We hoped it was going to happen before the game and the gaffer (Arsene Wenger) believed it and told us to believe it.

‘‘We played really well, defended really well and limited them to long-range chances. We knew what we wanted and that we would get another chance if we didn’t do it, but we wanted to do it here it’s a great feeling.

‘‘We were calm. In the dressing room no-one felt nervous. It just felt right.

‘‘We’ve had pressure before. We knew what we had to do and we went out and got it.’’

Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour added: ‘‘I can’t explain how it feels at the moment it’s a great night for us.

‘‘It’s been a long season and we’ve had some ups and downs, but we’ve stuck together and to win it here is fantastic.

‘‘To win it here makes it even better. We found a bit extra and it was so important to do that.

‘‘It’s a great win for us and to be fair we haven’t lost away from home this season which shows great character and spirit.’’

Fellow midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg said: ‘‘I’ve been waiting for this for three years.

‘‘It’s special to win the league here but I’m just happy to win it. It was hard but we coped with them.’’