5 potential replacements for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal

With many Gunners fans now having turned on their manager, we look at five potential replacements for him if he does leave the club

With Arsenal currently sat in sixth place in the table (and with the club level on points with seventh-placed Everton in the table) it has led to calls for boss Arsene Wenger to leave the Emirates Stadium from the club’s fans.

It isn’t the first time Gunners’ fans have called for their long-serving manager to leave Arsenal but this appears to be the final straw for many fans of the side. The club haven’t won a Premier League title in over ten years, something that has begun to aggravate supporters.

Add in to that the fact that they look like potentially missing out on the Champions League, something which they could do for the first time in over twenty years and it has led to a lot of unrest among the fans.

Although there are no signs that the Frenchman will be leaving at the end of the current campaign, with the current protests and performances, the end could be in sight for his tenure at the Emirates Stadium.

It has been a fantastic run for the club with Wenger at the helm and he is bound to go down in the history books at the club, especially after their ‘Invincibles’ season.

Should Wenger leave the club in summer, we have picked five potential managerial replacements for the Frenchman at Arsenal.

1. Massimiliano Allegri

Allegri is one of the odds-on favourites to take the reigns at Arsenal when Wenger does leave. Allegri is the current manager of Juventus and has been at the club for nearly three years now.

In that time, he has helped the Turin side win the Serie A title and continuously challenge in the Champions League. The Italian has won five titles in total in three years so far, which is a very good record and one of the reasons why the Gunners are sniffing around him.

He has experience of managing higher-level clubs, having been in charge of both AC Milan and Juventus in Italy. Not only does he have that experience but when put in charge of both clubs, he has also had a good win percentage too.

He gets most of his teams playing good football that wins games and that is exactly what Arsenal will want, as they look to challenge right at the top of the Premier League again.

The only downfall of Allegri is that he is unproven in England. All of his managerial roles so far have come in Italy and he is yet to test himself outside of his home country.

2. Diego Simeone

Simeone has a case for being one of the best managers in Europe at this moment in time. The work he has done at Atletico Madrid is nothing short of tremendous and it has therefore led to a lot of interest in him from other teams.

When Man United and Chelsea were both looking for new managers, they both looked at bringing in Simeone. However, he has become extremely valuable to Madrid and they won’t want to let him go too easily.

The manager though could be a good replacement for Wenger at Arsenal and it wouldn’t be impossible to lure him to the Emirwates Stadium. Simeone has been with the Spanish side for just over five years and after working hard at the club for so long, he could decide to finally seek a new challenge in a new country at Arsenal.

The challenge of getting the Gunners fighting for the title again could be enough to convince Simeone to try his hand in England. He himself could lure big players to the club just by being manager as, after the work he has done, a lot of players would want to work for the Madrid manager.

He’s got his side challenging for the title and breaking the ‘big two’ in the LIGA BBVA, while also challenging for the domestic cups and even on the Champions League stage. He’s won five trophies at Madrid in five years and has come so close to winning the Champions League, finishing as runner-up twice.

3. Eddie Howe

Howe has only recently proven his worth by bringing Bournemouth to the Premier League and now every club that loses a manager seems to be linked with him.

He showcased his managerial talent in the Football League with the Cherries and it has only been since he has taken his side up to the Premier League that everybody has finally sat up and taken notice of him.

Howe has done so well with Bournemouth – especially considering the fact they were struggling several leagues below the top tier when he took over – to haul them out from the depths of the Football League on little money and quickly taken them to safety in the Premier League and he could soon be given another chance to test himself at a top club.

Howe has remained faithful to Bournemouth, ruling himself out of the running for the England job and other vacancies when they have appeared.

However, appointing him as manager at Arsenal would appeal to a lot of people due to the fact it would be giving an English manager a chance at a top club and giving him a chance to prove himself and plus he remains only in the early stages of his managerial career and he has many years left to grow, learn and become an even better manager.

It would be a risk as he is not proven at a big side yet but he has certainly shown that he has what it takes to keep a team alive in the Premier League and do well with a side on a relatively meagre budget. It would be a gamble but a gamble that needs to be taken more on English managers and younger managers and Arsenal could be the team to do that.

4. Patrick Vieira

Vieira is the former player option of our list.

The ex-Arsenal midfielder could be a good appointment for the Gunners to make and having him as manager could be a smart move, especially as he is already so well respected at the club and players at Arsenal would also respect him and listen to him due to his playing career.

There are though, a few negatives with Vieira.

First of all, he is currently managing New York, who are part of the City Group of clubs. This City Group includes Man City, who are already thinking about appointing him as manager in the future when they require another coach. Therefore, New York would likely be unwilling to let him depart the club to join the Gunners.

Another problem is that he has only managed in America so far in his career. New York are the first side he has managed (not including Man City’s reserve side) and although he has done a sensational job in the MLS – his side have been one of the best in the league – he is unproven anywhere else and with no experience of European management, it would be a risk to appoint him.

He could prove to be a top manager and come in and do well with Arsenal from the start but with a lack of much experience yet, if the Gunners don’t want to take a risk, they could decide to look elsewhere.

If they are willing though to give their former player a chance, it could prove to be a masterstroke.

5. Laurent Blanc

Blanc is the final name on this list and another potential candidate for the job.

The Frenchman is currently without a club after leaving PSG but don’t let that make you think he would be a bad appointment – in fact, he could bring the success that fans crave back to the Emirates Stadium.

Blanc has only managed in Ligue 1 so far (as well as the French national team) but during his time in his native country he has won an impressive 15 trophies – and that is in just six years of club management as well.

He has the experience of managing a top side in Europe, managing PSG in the Champions League and he also has the experience of leading a top side in their respective country (PSG) to the league title.

His management of his national side is also valuable experience to have and although he didn’t manage to lead the nation to any international glory, he showed that he is more than capable of managing a host of big-name talents – which is again valuable experience to have.

He’d be easy to get too if he remains jobless in summer and if Wenger does leave at the end of the campaign, an easy option for them could be to turn to Laurent Blanc.