One of the main reasons Arsene Wenger found it so hard to let go at Arsenal is because the manager has little else in his life to distract him, but there is plenty out there for him to do.

Nothing to live for?

Arsene Wenger has denied that he will be taking up the manager’s job at AC Milan but months after leaving Arsenal we still have no clue what his next move will be.

Unlike Sir Alex Ferguson, with his love of horses and devotion to his wife, Wenger has neither of those things and has spoken about his fear of the ‘unknown’ that would come with retirement.

“Yes [It’s frightening to consider retirement],” Wenger told Sky Sports in October 2017 just before he turned 68. “Because every end is to be in front of the unknown and of course it can be a bit frightening.

“I started this job at the age of 33 so I’ve done 35 years without having a stop at all.

“There’s no break; it’s 35 years of total focus and dedication to football life.

“Why keep doing it? Because I love it. Because it’s a job where I think you can have a very positive influence: on people’s lives, on results, on the dimensions of a football club, on values – because I think first of all a club is about values, which we forget a lot today.

“I feel on a mission to carry these values through for this club because I think this club is usually respected all over the world for its values and it carries through the generations.”

We knew that it would be highly unlikely that Wenger would retire when he left Arsenal in summer and even though Arsenal are reportedly planning to bring him back eventually, here are some options for him in the meantime so he isn’t quite as lonely and scared…

Manage PSG

PSG have wanted Arsene Wenger as their manager for as long as I can remember and Wenger has made no secret of that.

In fact, he admitted that he almost left Arsenal for the Paris club before signing his last deal to stay with Arsenal for another two years.

In total, they are believed to have tried to sign him at least three times and the Telegraph reported as far back as 2008 that Wenger was seriously considering quitting Arsenal at the end of his contract in 2011 to join them as President after helping them with their long-term strategy 10 years ago.

Wenger, however, opted to remain at Arsenal to chase that elusive Champions League title.

Unai Emery joined PSG in 2016 and won the Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, and the Tropheé des Champions twice, but the hierarchy there also tried to replace him twice – once with Arsene Wenger and a second time with an unnamed manager after they lost to Bayern Munich 3-1 during the Champions League group stages – before ultimately getting rid of him to Arsenal’s benefit.

Wenger’s relationship with the PSG owners is well documented. Nasser Al-Khelaifi is the chairman and chief executive officer of beIN Media Group as well as the chairman and chief executive officer of PSG and Wenger often works as a pundit for beIN.

Ligue 1 coaches are not permitted to be over 65 and PSG would need to seek permission from the French FA before they could appoint Wenger.

This shouldn’t cause too much of an obstacle as the FFF approved Claudio Ranieri’s appointment as Nantes manager. Ranieri turned 65 six months before he was given the job.

Plus, Arsene’s relationship with the French FA means they would likely allow him to do whatever he wanted in the hopes that he might one day…..

Manage France

Arsene Wenger has never really shown much interest in packing in the day-to-day duties of club management for a more sedate life as a national team manager but he has admitted in the past that he would like to manage at the World Cup.

“Maybe, yes, I will do it at some stage but until now I like to be involved every day in the life of a club because the real test is there. Four or five weeks is a different experience, it’s more concentrated, but I believe the real experience of managing a team is on a daily basis,” Wenger said in November 2017 when asked about the possibility of moving into international management.

“I will [always] be in football. I don’t know [if] as a director, as a manager – as long as possible as a manager. But one day that will stop. But I will stay in football, of course.”

Didier Deschamps guided France to the World Cup in Russia this summer with a wealth of talent at his disposal. Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Antoine Griezmann, and Kylian Mbappé were just some of the names he had at his disposal.

Deschamps has won more matches for France than any other manager but with Arsene Wenger available, it’s not hard to imagine the FFF pushing for the former Arsenal manager once again sooner rather than later, despite Deschamps’ success.

So would Wenger like to manage France at Qatar in 2022? “Maybe, you never know,” he said.

Of course, he couldn’t do that if he decides to…

Manage Real Madrid

Real Madrid are currently in 6th place, 7 points adrift of Barcelona at the top of La Liga and 4 behind Espanyol in second with no permanent manager at the helm.

Real Madrid are also another club who have chased Wenger for a while and another he has made no secret of turning down.

They tried in 2004, 2006 and 2009 but don’t seem to have returned since. Perhaps they felt there was no point, perhaps they got annoyed at being turned down so many times or perhaps they no longer feel that Wenger could do the job they needed him to do in the first ten years of the millennium.

Wenger almost joined them in 2006 after he lost the Champions League final. He was offered a contract by Villar Mir, who was a candidate to become the new president of the club, but Vir lost the election.

Whatever Real Madrid feel about Wenger now, the Frenchman has also admitted that the Bernabeu side were his ‘childhood club’. “Real is the club of my childhood,” Wenger admitted in 2009.

“When I was a kid, watching those guys in white, winning everything, then of course I am attracted by that club, but I have a pact with the young players of my team, and I want to succeed with that bet.

“I identified what was important in my job: freedom. Here, I have it.

“I could have earned bigger wages at Real, but I earn a good living in London. At my age, money can’t play a key role.

“If I left for Real, I would have tried to filter through my philosophy, re-organized everything. I could have given foundations to the club’s structure.”

If they don’t want him, he could always…

Manage a small country

Able to speak five languages and detailing politics as, perhaps, the only non-footballing thing he is interested in, Arsenal fans have long joked that Wenger could run a small country.

His studious, controlling nature and keen eye for finances make him more qualified than many politicians we see in high profile positions these days and there is no doubt that he could do a better job than many.

So what would his political philosophy look like? We don’t have to wonder as he told Martin Samuel back in 2009.

“Politically, I am for efficiency,” he said. “Economically first. Until the 1980s the world was divided into two, people were either communist or capitalist. The communist model does not work economically, we all realised that, but the capitalist model in the modern world also looks to be unsustainable.

“You cannot ignore individual interests, but I believe the world evolves slowly. The last 30 years have brought a minimum amount of money for everybody in the west, the next step, politically, would be a maximum amount of money earned by everybody.

“If you look at the world and what is happening at the moment, the biggest issue is the need for a world government. There is no other way out. It will happen, in 50 years maybe, but it will happen.

“Otherwise you just transfer the problem from one country to the next. It is not the case anymore that you are isolated as an employee, that if it does not go well in the other country you are unaffected and continue to live well. Everywhere is inter-connected.

“If you look at the world and what is happening at the moment, the biggest issue is the need for a world government. There is no other way out. It will happen, in 50 years maybe, but it will happen. Otherwise, you just transfer the problem from one country to the next. It is not the case any more that you are isolated as an employee, that if it does not go well in the other country you are unaffected and continue to live well. Everywhere is inter-connected.”

But if he doesn’t want to do it on his own he could always….

Help out George Weah

If the thought of running a country on his own, Arsene could always give Liberia’s president, George Weah, a call to see if he needs any help.

Weah has often spoke of his affection for Wenger just as the Frenchman has spoke of his pride at what Weah faced down to get where he has in life.

“He was a father figure and regarded me as his son,” Weah said in December. “This was a man, when racism was at its peak, who showed me love. He wanted me to be on the pitch for him every day.

“One day, I was quite tired of training and told him that I was having a headache. He said to me: ‘George, I know it’s tough but you need to work hard. I believe that with your talent, you can become one of the best players in the world.’ So, I listened and kept going on. Besides God, I think that without Arsène, there was no way I would have made it in Europe.”

Wenger was famously invited to Weah’s inauguration but could not make it because of his Arsenal commitments.

“I have been invited by George to come to the day where he will be president. I believe I will be busy. Maybe if I’m suspended I’ll have time to go!” Wenger said.

“What’s important is when you look at his life, and I think the life of this guy is a real film, it’s unbelievable. You can make a fantastic film.

“I remember when I saw him for the first time in Monaco, coming in a bit lost, not knowing anybody, not being rated by anybody as a player and after, in 1995, becoming the best player in the world.

“Now he’s president of his country – it’s an unbelievable story. But it’s down to the fact that one thing that was common in George’s attitude is being strong mentally, absolutely unbelievably convinced that he has a mission.

“And the second thing – because I went with George through the period where there was war in Liberia and I saw how much he suffered for his country – was the love for his country and for his people, and the care he had for other people.

“I didn’t think at that point that he would become president of his country, but today when I look back, I must say I’ve seen him crying when war was on in Liberia.

“It’s a happy story and I wish that he has a happy presidency. I would like to say this guy is an example for everybody who plays football today, for all the players.”

If that all seems a little too far from football, Wenger could always…

Become a Bein pundit full time

Wenger currently works for beIN spots in a part-time capacity.

Signing a deal to cover the Euros for the media outlet in 2016, beIN Sports director, Florent Houzot, said at the time, “We will have a new consultant who completely adheres to our philosophy: Arsene Wenger. He will exclusively take part in our broadcasts before and after matches.

“He is a friend with Nasser al-Khelaifi and he appreciates our way of treating football He will join our panel of experts: Robert Pires, Marcel Desailly, Omar da Fonseca and Jean-Pierre Papin.”

But his connection with the company goes back ever further after Wenger was dropped as a pundit by TF1, whom he had worked with for 10 years, in September 2014.

Becoming a pundit would even leave him time to…

Write that book

Wenger often teased us all that he would reveal his secrets when he finally stopped managing Arsenal and writes a book.

His loyalty to the club might prevent him from actually doing that, but if he did decide to pen his memoirs it would surely be a best seller.

“As long as you are in work, you cannot really tell what is going on. Just to sell a book? I have no interest,” Wenger said in November.

“If it is to tell really what I think about the game and what I think about some aspects of our game, I will do it but at the moment it is impossible.

“I have no time, not because it is not interesting. Because I have a good experience of managing. I don’t like to talk and not tell the truth.

“Look, I have nothing against it. I am open-minded to it. But I have not much time in my schedule.”

If he fancies a really huge challenge he could always combine politics and football and….

Run for president of FIFA

If there is one thing Arsene Wenger has by the bucketload, it’s integrity and he could be just the man to reform, revamp and reorganise the world’s governing body.

Even as his managerial powers waned, Wenger still showed a knack for predicting what way football will go and if he was in charge of FIFA he could make changes for the good of the game globally, not just for the good of those willing to pay bribes.

It would be a lot less stressful job for Wenger as well, with current president, Gianni Infantino, saying last March, “Arsene Wenger is an icon of Arsenal. Even his first name is Arsene. It’s linked for eternity.

“I’m very happy I have to deal with many other challenges, but not with managing Arsenal.

“It will be up to the managers of Arsenal to decide what the future of Arsenal will be.

“But what Arsene Wenger has done in Arsenal throughout history is certainly… he’s a big personality of football.

“He’s one of the football legends.”

That he is.

But what will he be next? That is the big question.