Three in the frame to replace Wenger
Arteta, Nagelsmann and Vieira among favourites to take over Arsenal hotseat
MIKEL ARTETA, Patrick Vieira and Julian Nagelsmann are due to be interviewed for the Arsenal job with a decision on who gets the nod expected in the next fortnight.
Juventus boss Max Allegri remains in discussion, though there is a mood to appoint a younger manager and attempt to establish another long-term dynasty rather than move to a model whereby the boss changes every two or three years.
Amongst key decision-makers it is thought that Allegri could do an excellent job in the short term but the Arsenal board is edging towards appointing someone who will be more integrated with the club in the long term.
Joachim Löw has been ruled out because of the complications of managing Germany in the World Cup. Thierry Henry is also due to meet with the club executives and could be offered a role at the club, but not as manager.
A younger coach would naturally place more power in the hands of chief executive Ivan Gazidis and his appointees, Head of scouting Sven Mislintat and director of football relations Raul Sanllehi.
It would also sit well with 38-year-old Josh Kroenke’s increased involvement at Arsenal and the fact that some at the club believe the son of owner Stan Kroenke will be soon be appointed chairman, replacing 78-year-old Sir Chips Keswick.
Arteta has growing support among those who know him from his playing days at the club and Gazidis has been impressed with his credentials.
The natural intelligence of the Manchester City coach and the inside knowledge he would bring of Pep Guardiola’s methods and tactics would be obvious reasons to recruit.
Although he would have to manage the transition of coaching players who were once team-mates, he has the maturity to do so and is a serious candidate with a strong chance of getting the job. But Arsenal are aware this may be the best chance to prise 30-year-old Hoffenheim coach Nageslmann away from the lure of Bayern Munich and his candidacy is favoured by Mislintat.
Nagelsmann is understood to be keen to be considered at Arsenal.
However, he has a contract until 2021 and his club asked for €50million compensation when Borussia Dortmund approached them this season about Nagelsmann’s services.
A year ago, he looked certain to take over at Bayern Munich but doubts about his experience, political infighting at Bayern and the difficulties of extracting him from his contract means that the Bundesliga champions have since appointed Niko Kovac.
However, if Nagelsmann continues his rise, there is little doubt Bayern will be back.
In the past, Nagelsmann had rejected the chance to take over Bayern’s Under-23 team after his success with Hoffenheim’s junior teams. At that stage, Hoffenheim fast tracked him to be coach of their first team. That decision was accelerated in February 2016, with the team in danger of relegation from the Bundesliga.
He saved them from the drop and in 2016-17, his first season in charge, qualified for the Champions League, though they lost in the qualifying round to Liverpool. They then struggled in the Europa League, finishing bottom of their group.
Patrick Vieira remains an outsider at present. Naturally he would be the emotional favourite with supporters and holds an advantage over Arteta in that he has been the manager of New York City since 2016, after previously managing Manchester City’s development squad.
Allegri and Luis Enrique look to have fallen behind in the running.
Enrique might be too costly — he earned £15m a year at Barcelona.
And Allegri is not guaranteed to want the job if Juventus continue to support him.