Arsenal have been linked with a move for Nice manager, Lucien Favre, and a report this weekend claims the manager is not expected to see out his contract
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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.”
Arsenal are linked with a host of managers even though there is no guarantee there will even be a job opening this summer.
Arsene Wenger should leave but he’s expected to see out the final year of his contract, barring anything dramatic happening between now and the end of the season.
The latest name to be linked with the job is 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 on Friday morning, Arsenal have 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.
“I like it a lot in Nice,” Favre said recently. “And there are other countries as well. We’ll see what happens.”
Blick also speculate that the manager could be convinced to see out the final year of his contract if he is allowed to re-invest the millions the club will receive for selling Balotelli this summer.
Another option that could be considered is Favre coming to Arsenal next summer when both his and Wenger’s contracts have expired.
But, given how things are at Arsenal, it is beyond impossible to tell what will happen.
Nine other managers have been linked with Arsenal and we assess them all next…