David Ornstein says Mikel Arteta is the ‘frontrunner’ for the Arsenal job, and staff feel he is set to get it, but there are still whispers that Max Allegri isn’t out of the picture.

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Writing on the BBC website, Ornstein summed up Arsenal’s managerial appointment process so far. The club reportedly didn’t start speaking to anyone about the job until after Arsene Wenger announced his departure, as they didn’t want to do anything behind his back.

That hesitance meant they missed out on Thomas Tuchel. Meanwhile Joachim Low, Diego Simeone, Luis Enrique, Carlo Ancelotti and Brendan Rodgers were never serious candidates anyway.

The club spoke to a number of contenders, before cutting the list down to Allegri, Arteta and Vieira. Ornstein says all three were ‘definitely’ spoken to, whether directly or indirectly. There could also have been contact with Julian Nagelsmann, Thierry Henry and Leonardo Jardim.

At this stage, it seems Vieira has ‘drifted out of contention’, just leaving Arteta and Allegri. Arteta is the favourite, but it could seemingly still go either way.

Who makes the decision?

Ivan Gazidis is reportedly responsible for the decision, but he’s getting help from head of football relations Raul Sanllehi and head of recruitment Sven Mislintat. Once the trio decide on a manager, they’ll present their recommendation to the board for approval.

From the looks of things, we should get a decision on the new manager pretty soon. If we’re down to two candidates, and Juventus’ season ends this weekend, there aren’t many reasons to drag it out.

It’s good to see the club going through a proper appointment process though. We saw the dangers of just going with the first person that pops into the previous manager’s head at Manchester United. With any luck, the new boss will be more successful as a result of Arsenal’s thoroughness.

For profiles of the two remaining candidates, click ‘Next’

Massimiliano Allegri

Arsenal have recently been linked with Massimiliano Allegri of Juventus.

The Italian manager failed to win the Champions League this season (or even make the semi-finals), which was their primary aim. However, he won a domestic double with the side, as he does every year.

The Old Lady has allowed just 23 goals in Serie A this season. Allegri managed this while deploying a variety of defensive systems as well.

When Juventus are facing a team of lesser quality than themselves (like against Tottenham in the Champions League), they usually play with 4 at the back to allow themselves to push higher up the field with numbers.

In their Serie A games, when facing teams nearer to them in the table, Allegri has had success with the more traditional Italian system of three at the back.

Juventus employed this against AC Milan in a 3-1 win and something similar to it in April against Napoli (which they lost, 1-0).

Being able to use multiple, different defensive strategies successfully will translate well to the Premier League, where there are so many different managing styles.

In past seasons, Arsenal have at times struggled due to an inability to adapt when “plan A” fails.

Allegri also has defensive success without compromising on attack.

The results speak for themselves; Juventus have only allowed 23 goals, but they have also scored the second most in Serie A with 84.

With a manager that is more skilled at organising defences like Allegri, Arsenal may not make the same bone-headed mistakes they have made this season.

Mikel Arteta

Every Arsenal fan should already know Arteta from his time with the club as a player.

The Spaniard spent five years in North London, up until his retirement in 2016. After that he joined Manchester City to work as an assistant to Pep Guardiola.

The Telegraph says the 35-year-old is well regarded at Arsenal after his club captaincy. His existing connections with head of football relations Raul Sanllehi as well as Ivan Gazidis should help as well.

It would be a gamble to jump from one of the most experienced managers in the game to someone without a single day in charge of a club. However, Arteta knows Arsenal, and he’s worked under some of the best coaches around.

Perhaps Arsenal should be taking a gamble anyway, rather than playing it too safe and ending up needing to make another managerial change in a couple of years anyway.

Manchester City’s massive success this year should have taught him a lot as well. Plus he’s earned good reviews from former manager Arsene Wenger, current colleague Pep Guardiola and Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino. Not a bad list of references.