On Friday morning, Arsene Wenger announced he’s stepping down as Arsenal manager at the end of the season, but who will come in to replace him?
As grateful as we all are for Wenger’s contributions to the club, the Arsenal board now need to move fast to secure a replacement. Here are all the managers reportedly on the shortlist to replace the boss this summer:
5Lucien Favre
Most recently, the media linked Arsenal with a move for Nice manager, Lucien Favre. A report this month claimed the manager is unlikely to see out his contract.
Writing in Blick, Michael Wegmann says, “The contract of the 60-year-old at Nice is still running until the summer of 2019. But since the club paid the transfer fee of €3m-€5m for this coach, no-one in the Cote d’Azur believes that the Master Trainer of the FCZ will meet this.”
Favre, who is under contract with Nice until 2019, and is a manager described as “meticulous, detail obsessed and football crazy.”
He is the type of manager who tells the groundsman how to cut the grass at the training ground.
Favre has also been credited with ‘doing what no coach has achieved before’ in ‘taming’ Mario Balotelli.
The Italian is said to be ‘more concerned with performance than scandal’ since his arrival at the club. Despite that, however, Balotelli is expected to move on in the summer.
Favre is also said to be wanted by Borussia Dortmund and has also been linked with the upcoming Bayern Munich job.
According to L’Equipe, Arsenal added Favre to their shortlist, and are considering the 60-year-old as an Arsene Wenger replacement.
Favre only took up the Nice job last summer having previously managed at Borussia Monchengladbach and Hertha Berlin.
His average in Ligue 1 is 1.55 points per game. To compare, Wenger’s return has been 1.96 points per game at Arsenal.