After Arsenal were eliminated from the FA Cup, talk of Arsene Wenger leaving grew in intensity, and movements behind the scene throw weight on the argument that he could exit this summer.

After the Gunners lost 4-2 to Nottingham Forest, there has been a lot of talk about Arsene Wenger’s future. The defeat ended Arsenal’s chances of a fourth FA Cup trophy in five years, leaving just the Europa League and Carabao Cup as realistic honours.

Whether Wenger leaves Arsenal in 2018 or 2019, it seems like the club are planning for his exit. They’ve appointed Sven Mislintat as Head of Recruitment and Raul Sanllehi as Head of Football Relations. Then they’ve brought in Huss Fahmy for Player Contracts, and appointed Per Mertesacker as Academy Manager.

The complete overhaul behind-the-scenes certainly implies a change at the top sometime soon. The easiest way to transition a new manager into a club is to make these additions a season earlier. That way they can all learn their roles under Wenger, then he can make way for someone else.

There is a chance that’s not the plan at all, however, and the club are just trying to support their current manager. But if Arsenal don’t win a trophy and miss out on the Champions League, that might make their minds up.