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Arsenal rumors: 5 managers who may replace Arsene Wenger

By David Cambridge

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Reserve team manager of Manchester City FC Patrick Vieira looks on during the UEFA Youth League Round of 16 match between Manchester City FC and FC Schalke 04 at City Football Academy on February 24, 2015 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Reserve team manager of Manchester City FC Patrick Vieira looks on during the UEFA Youth League Round of 16 match between Manchester City FC and FC Schalke 04 at City Football Academy on February 24, 2015 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /
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HULL, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 26: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City looks on during the Premier League match between Hull City and Manchester City at KCOM Stadium on December 26, 2016 in Hull, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
HULL, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 26: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City looks on during the Premier League match between Hull City and Manchester City at KCOM Stadium on December 26, 2016 in Hull, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) /

Pep Guardiola

If you think that Pep rocking up at City takes him out of the running to succeed Wenger, then think again. The Catalan has repeatedly scoffed at the idea of staying in Manchester beyond his current contract, and is given to jumping from one challenge to the next.

Like the man he would replace, Guardiola is a student of the beautiful game, and demands of his players not just winning football but free-flowing, coordinated team play, the type of which has been practiced (with varying degrees of success) in North London ever since Wenger took the reigns in 1996.

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The former Barca coach is also a proven winner though, and unlike Wenger knows how to instill in his dressing room the kind of attributes which help turn fancy football into trophies: tactical discipline, a ruthless streak, and above all, a winning mentality. In other words, exactly those attributes Arsenal have been missing for the better part of a decade.

One of the most sought after coaches in today’s game, Pep will not be short of enticing (read: lucrative) offers when vacates the Man City hot-seat. Indeed, yet to experience coaching in Italy and France, he may opt to leave the Premier League altogether in search of new experience.

Arsenal could twist his arm, though – not least because it would present him with the opportunity to defy his critics, achieving success with a group of players for whom success hasn’t come easily in recent years, instead of taking over a ready-made team of champions.

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