Ok, so he might not go this summer (but then he might) but Arsene Wenger can’t go on forever and Arsenal will soon have to address the issue of finding a new manager.
On one level Arsenal are still a pretty attractive club to manage – nice stadium, stable-ish board, probability of Champions League football – they tick a lot of boxes.
But the last couple of season have seem them slip down the list of Europe’s elite clubs and they can’t be quite as picky as they once were.
The manager that the fans dreamt of, Pep Guardiola, will soon be ensconced in Bayern Munich snapping up players like Gotze who Wenger would have loved to have bought. And as for Jose, the bonkers Portuguese genius is probably on his way back to Chelsea.
So with a lot of the big names out of the frame who else is there who could take over at The Emirates if Wenger does take the Eurostar and exit this (or next) summer.
1 David Moyes - The Scotsman would be an obvious contender. He is ready to make the move to a bigger club and might not get a better opportunity than Arsenal. He has worked wonders in creating teams for next to no cash- something that will appeal to the Arsenal board – and tactically he is very sound. He is not the dream manager that some of the fans want, but he could become an Arsenal legend (the new George Graham) if things go well. If things go badly though he could find himself as the new Bruce Rioch- out on his ear after a year.
2 Michael Laudrup – In my book the Dane could well be favourite. He might have committed to Swansea, but I think if the job were offered him (with Champions League football if Arsenal qualify) he would take it. He would be a hit with the fans and the type of football his team play is fairly similar to Arsenal. He also has the advantage of possibly bringing his captain Ashley Williams and star striker Michu with him.
3 Jürgen Klopp - Klopp may decide that in taking Dortmund to a Champions League final he has gone as far as he can. He has already lost Gotze to Bayern and several other star Dortmund players could be heading for the exit too. Arsenal would a be a real challenge for the young, ambitious and articulate German. Again he could bring some prize assets with him too – Lewandowski?
4 Joachim Löw – The current German manager might fancy a return to club football and Arsenal would be a good fit for a boss whose teams play fast attacking, fluid football.
5 Thierry Henry – The very long shot. But the fans would welcome his return, he is very popular with the players and he loves both London and Arsenal. He has some pretty amazing contacts too. Maybe the club could appoint a director of football to work with him in the short term too. Stranger things have happened.
