Arsene Wenger announced on Friday that he’s leaving Arsenal at the end of the season, but who might end up leaving with him?
After 22 years at the club, Wenger finally called time on his Arsenal spell this week. It came at a surprising time for many of us, including the players, reportedly. Clearly many expected him to stick around for a while longer, and his departure might have an impact on their own situations.
There are a number of players and staff with a personal connection to the manager who may end going the same way. Here’s our list of the four people we think are most likely to follow him out of the door:
4Mesut Özil
In January 2017, before Özil signed a new contract at Arsenal, he spoke to German magazine Kicker about his future. He told the outlet: “I want to be clear on what Wenger is doing. I feel very, very happy at Arsenal and have shown the club that I am prepared to extend my contract.
“The fans want me to stay. Now it’s just down to the club. The club knows that I am, above all, here because of Arsene Wenger – who signed me and whose trust I have. The club also knows that I just want to be clear on what the manager will do.”
To me, those quotes make it sound like if Wenger had left, Özil might have too. He didn’t commit his future immediately after the manager signed a new two year deal, but six months later he agreed a new three-and-a-half year contract, true to his word.
With the boss now leaving his contract half-way through, the German might think about doing the same. In his book, Gunning For Greatness, he made it very clear that the reason he chose Real Madrid over Barcelona was because Jose Mourinho made him feel wanted and Pep Guardiola didn’t.
If all of his major career choices so far have revolved around managers, I don’t see why the next one wouldn’t.