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:
5Patrick Vieira
The Daily Mail write that Vieira is ‘a serious contender’ to return to the club as manager.
Vieira himself is still managing MLS side New York City FC at the moment. His team are top of the table and unbeaten in the early part of the new season. The 41-year-old also has some experience of management in England, having taken charge of the Manchester City Reserves for a couple of years after his retirement from playing.
Of course, the main reason why a fair number of Arsenal fans get excited by links to Vieira is his success on the pitch with the club. As captain of the side, the former midfielder led the team through the invincible season. He won three Premier League titles, three FA Cups and three Community Shields in London.
If he could bring anything like that kind of success back, he’d be a big success.