The name of Arsene Wenger has been synonymous with Arsenal for 22 years – but the shoes he leaves behind won’t be too big to fill for any manager with ambition.
Though the Frenchman dragged Arsenal kicking and screaming into the modern era with his beautiful brand of football, the prettiness has only been skin-deep in recent years.
Wenger, of course, was hamstrung by a hit in finances once the Gunners moved to the Emirates Stadium in 2006 – but the recent mega-money outlays on players such as Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette suggests there is a decent amount in the kitty.
And given the humdrum seasons of late, the incoming manager will satisfy a joy-starved fanbase with a mere top-four finish in the Premier League.
#MerciArsène pic.twitter.com/h3XAQvr2pw
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 20, 2018
A London-based club with a rich history, large stadium and enough money to compete – the queue of applicants should be snaking around the Thames river.
Below, we take a look at three of the most suitable names for the job from across the footballing spectrum …
THE EXPERIENCED CHOICE
Expect that eyebrow to have quivered with excitement upon hearing Friday’s news.
Carlo Ancelotti’s reign at Bayern Munich ended in rare failure last September, but was just one blot on a track record which screams success.
The Italian put the finishing touches on an AC Milan side which dominated Europe in the mid-2000s and is still revered at Chelsea and Real Madrid, where he also won the Champions League.
He has also proved to be tactically flexible down the years and will design the best fit for the players left to him rather than cram them into a particular philosophy – a charge often levelled at Wenger.
The knocks against him? He would have to do more work to shape Arsenal into a successful side than at any other side in his career – though that doesn’t mean he couldn’t.
He will also be competing with 40-somethings Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola – as well as the larger-than-life Jurgen Klopp – at the top of the Premier League. At 58, does Ancelotti still have the energy to take on such a big challenge?
THE BOLD CHOICE
Arsenal have to be careful not to let sentiment or nostalgia cloud their judgement when it comes to Patrick Vieira – the face of their most successful Premier League teams.
But though he’s been out of the Premier League spotlight for a while, he has a better coaching pedigree than many would lead you to believe.
The Gunners missed a trick not hiring him as soon as he stopped playing, as City swooped in to provide him with his coaching training wheels.
Vieira held various roles with the club – including managing their reserve team – before being announced as the head coach of the Sky Blues’ affiliate club, New York City, in the MLS three years ago.
The Frenchman took over the franchise after a difficult first season and transformed their fortunes completely, leading them to the play-offs in consecutive seasons.
The story so far this year? Flying high at the top of the Eastern Conference, despite a radical overhaul of his squad.
His teams have also tended to have a physical edge without forsaking technique – just like his own playing style – a tonic which would go down well with a flaky Arsenal side.
But just how gutsy is the Gunners board?
THE FASHIONABLE CHOICE
Thomas Tuchel’s reputation has only grown in unemployment. Having left Borussia Dortmund in a storm in May of last year, the German has flirted with several high-profile clubs without ever pulling the trigger.
He would certainly be a trendy choice. After overachieving with Mainz, the attack-minded Tuchel seamlessly slipped into the void left by a Liverpool-bound Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund.
Young talents such as Julian Weigl, Christian Pulisic and now-Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele owe a lot to Tuchel’s coaching as he developed them into tactically versatile players without limiting their natural flair.
Indeed, Tuchel’s teams are renowned for formation fluidity and innovation – exactly what Arsenal needed given they cannot compete with the financial muscle of teams like the two Manchester clubs.
He also got the best out of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and turned Emerick-Aubameyang into a goal machine, two players who just so happened to rock up at the Emirates in January.
Ultimately he just won the domestic cup with Dortmund – though the high turnover of playing staff, coupled with trying to bring down the mighty Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, skews this unfortunate fact against him.
What would really trouble Arsenal is his chequered history with authority. He fell out with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke over the sale of players and more worryingly Arsenal’s new head of recruitment Sven Mislintat.
Arsenal had begun to take power away from Wenger as he neared the exit door and with Tuchel, they would be taking a gamble on someone who could upset their new power structure.
