Ray Parlour thinks ex-Arsenal stars like Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry should be considered for the job when Wenger leaves the Gunners.

Parlour told AskFans that he understands Wenger still has another year and a half to go on his contract, but the club need to start planning now.

He said: “Try and put it in place now. Managers don’t hang around. Do you know who would be perfect one day? Patrick Vieira. He’s manager at New York, but now he’s probably in line for the Man City job instead of Arsenal. He’s part of their club.

“In the future, maybe Thierry Henry. He’s a very intelligent guy, he knows the players, he knows the dressing room and he knows how to attract big players. He could be perfect for it. Will he get an opportunity? Who knows. I would always look at ex-players.”

The problem with Henry as an appointment is the lack of club management experience he has. At the moment, Thierry is assistant manager with Belgium, which will help him learn how to coach teams, but everything else about managing a club will be a mystery until he gets involved.

You don’t have to deal with transfers and contracts as manager or assistant manager of Belgium, and arguably that’s where the Gunners need to improve almost as much as they do on the pitch, for me. I’d recommend he takes a management role as soon as possible, so he can learn the whole job before it’s too late for him to come into consideration.

Vieira is doing so, and perhaps he could be in the running when Wenger leaves, although his management experience is in the MLS across the ocean. Personally, my guess would be that Arsenal look at someone with a lot more experience, someone who is more of a safe bet.

Whether that’s the right decision, we’ll see.