The Arsenal board drew up a five-strong shortlist to send to Stan Kroenke in the event of Arsene Wenger’s departure, according to reliable BBC journalist David Ornstein.
Ornstein wrote on the BBC website that even some of the club’s most important staff didn’t know anything about Wenger leaving until Thursday evening. However, plans “were tentatively being put in place”, with a shortlist prepared for this eventuality.
Now, they need to put the list into action, and make a decision before the end of the campaign.
Currently we don’t know the exact five names, but Ornstein has narrowed it down to eight. Here are those eight managers:
1Max Allegri
Allegri is currently the manager of Juventus, but he admitted previously that he wants to move abroad when he leaves the Old Lady.
The media have linked him with Arsenal and Chelsea a lot in the past. Allegri may, however, find the stability on offer at Arsenal a far more attractive proposition than moving to a club that likes to sack managers the season after they win the Premier League.
PSG are also interested in signing the manager to replace Unai Emery, who is expected to be sacked at the end of the season. Recently though, the French side seem to be turning to former Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel.
Allegri, 50, has had a lot of success in Italy in recent years. He led Milan to a Serie A title and a Supercoppa Italiana in 2011. Then he joined Juventus and won three Serie A titles, three Coppa Italias, one Suppercoppa Italiana and reached the Champions League final twice. There could be more to come before this season is up as well.
If he could achieve anything like that with Arsenal, he’d be a massive success.
Click ‘Next’ to find out who else Ornstein names as potentially on Arsenal’s shortlist