Carlo Ancelotti admits he would be pleased to hear that Arsenal want to hire him, but hasn’t had any contact from the club just yet.
Ancelotti is one of the managers most fans and journalists assume will be right up there as Arsenal look to replace Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman announced on Friday that he’ll leave the club at the end of the season, so they don’t have long to make a decision.
The former coach of AC Milan, Real Madrid, PSG, Chelsea and Bayern Munich admitted that despite that impressive CV, Arsenal interest would still flatter him.
“If they were interested, it would give me pleasure,” said Ancelotti. “But at the moment that’s it. My future depends on possibilities and projects that are presented to me, not just from me.”
He’s right to point out that at the end of the day it’s Arsenal’s call, not his. However, it seems he’s preparing for them to make him an offer. BBC Sport claim Ancelotti has already decided he wants Andrea Pirlo as his assistant.
Pirlo, for his part, officially confirmed his retirement last November. The pair would certainly provide tonnes of experience and a real winning mentality. You can’t get much better than a World Cup winner and a Champions League winner in that regard.
Whether Arsenal see it the same way, we’ll have to wait and see. There are plenty of other candidates out there at the moment. David Ornstein named as many as eight on the BBC website, which you can browse through here:
Whichever manager they pick, we’ll know soon enough.