Arsenal focus narrows on Allegri, Vieira and Arteta

Arsenal have whittled down their shortlist of candidates to succeed Arsene Wenger, with Juventus manager Max Allegri and former captains Mikel Arteta and Patrick Vieira among the group under consideration.

Allegri’s track record over the past decade makes him the leading candidate among the more heavyweight managerial figures in Europe but Arsenal are not settled on whether to go all out for an established manager or a younger headcoach option.

Arteta, 36, is particularly well regarded at the Emirates but, other than the past two seasons as assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, he has no senior coaching experience. Vieira is the coach of New York City, who have improved their finishing position in each of his two seasons.

Arsenal do not want to contact managers at an inconvenient moment and so will wait until most of the major European leagues have finished before accelerating their process. Discussions, however, are being held internally. They intend to make their appointment by the start of the World Cup next month.

A proven figure such as Allegri or Monaco’s Leonardo Jardim, would be likely to bring a greater staff and salary expectation but would represent less of a risk than a less experienced manager, such as Vieira, Arteta or Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann.

Last night Allegri oversaw Juventus’s 4-0 rout of AC Milan as they won the Coppa Italia for the fourth year running.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are close to agreeing a new contract with midfielder Jack Wilshere.