Simon Davies, Vieira’s former Assistant, will take up the role when Vieira begins his reign as New York City FC Head Coach on 1 January 2016.
Davies told mcfc.co.uk: “It was an honour to work with Patrick and it’s a privilege to take on the task of continuing the fantastic work he’s undertaken with a talented and dedicated group of players.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Patrick for his mentorship and guidance over the past two and a half years and to thank Txiki Begiristain and everyone at the club for this fantastic opportunity.
“I’ve learned a great deal as Patrick’s Assistant and I’m delighted to be taking this next step in my coaching career to play a part in helping to shape the footballing future of this great club.
“Our first goal is to produce players for our first-team and we have had a great start to the season in this respect with many of the EDS squad training and playing competitive football with the seniors on a regular basis.
“I look forward to this continuing over the coming weeks, months and years.”
Director of Football Txiki Begiristain said: “In the five years Simon has been at Manchester City FC, Simon has proved that he’s a first-class coach with a strong understanding of our core footballing principles and the ability to inspire and educate our young footballers.
“This role is of the highest long-term importance to the club – the ability to knit together the Academy and the first-team to work together using the same footballing concepts is key to our success and sustainability.
“We’re delighted to appoint Simon into this role and we are certain he will continue to transmit his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm in to our bright young talents at City Football Academy.”
Davies initially came to City in 2010 in a role alongside fellow former Wales internationals Neil Roberts and Gareth Taylor on the Rishworth exchange programme which saw young players from Abu Dhabi jetting over to train at Platt Lane and Carrington.
After a successful period between the Middle East and Manchester, Simon came in to work with City under-16s, as well as putting coaching syllabuses in place for the 12-16 age-groups.
When Vieira was made Head of City EDS in June 2013, he opted to bring in Simon as his right-hand man.
Together, Davies and Vieira have guided our under-19s to the knockout stages of the UEFA Youth League for three-successive years and the u21s won the U21 International Premier League Cup last season.
Davies represented Manchester United, Luton and Macclesfield Town in his playing career before hanging up his boots in 2007 and moving into coaching.
