The French enforcer has fallen out of favour with Jose Mourinho at the San Siro, and was expected to leave Serie A during the close-season.
And a lack of first-team action at club level has also resulted in Vieira losing his place in the national setup.
After being omitted from Raymond Domenech’s squad to face the Republic of Ireland in their two-legged World Cup play-off, Vieira now faces an uphill battle to regain his place before the global showpiece in June.
And Vieira’s former boss Wenger believes the 33-year-old must leave the Nerazzurri if he is to stand any chance of appearing in the World Cup finals for a fourth time in his career.
“He must change club in January if he wants to play in the World Cup,” he told French radio station RTL.
“He doesn’t play enough. What he’s missing is playing time. To go to the World Cup at his age, you must play.
“But I think Patrick can regain his starting place for France.”
Vieira – who has 105 caps under his belt – was strongly linked with a return to North London during the summer as well as arch rivals Spurs.
However, Wenger believes it is unlikely that the colossal midfielder will be coming back to the Premier League.
“If I had to bet, I would put my money on another country. It’s complicated for him to come back to this country.”
