Arsene Wenger resigns: 12 candidates to replace the Arsenal manager

Arsene Wenger announced he will walk away from his job as the Arsenal manager at the end of this season. It’s weird. He was there so long, and was so influential in how the Premier League became one of the top leagues in the world. Then, for a long time, he was a middling manager seemingly devoid of ideas. The rest of the league caught up. Arsenal started losing.

The new manager of Arsenal will be tasked with a very, very tough job — bringing the club back to its former glory. Here are 10 candidates the club might consider, ranked on how likely it is they could be hired.

Vieira was a legend with the club, and is coming into his own as a manager, having spent years working with Manchester City’s reserves and now doing really innovative things as the manager of NYCFC in MLS. (His tactical experiments over the last couple seasons have been one of the most fun things to watch in the American league.)

The knock on Vieira is that he doesn’t have Premier League experience, but if Arsenal is looking for someone to bring fresh ideas, and someone who will resonate with the fanbase, Vieira seems like a strong choice.

This would be a safer hire, I suppose, but still a good one. Ancelotti has experience at the highest levels of football, and if Arsenal is serious about becoming Champions League contenders, Ancelotti has shown he can do that. He’s shown tactical creativity, building fun sides at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich recently. On top of that, he’s available.

In a perfect world, I think my dude Mike Goodman is right: Arsenal should hire Ancelotti, give him two years to get the club back on track, then bring in someone like Vieira to make the club his own. This road will be a little bumpy, and if Vieira is Arsenal’s man for the future, they’ll want to spare him the initial pains of trying to get this roster right.

Tuchel has been linked for a while with Arsenal, as the former Dortmund manager showed he can build beautiful, attacking sides, develop young talent, and do it all without breaking the bank.

The only issue? He’s being linked heavily to the PSG job.

This one is interesting to me. Enrique led Barcelona to a treble and a double, but has been out of work since his contract expired with the club in 2017. I’m not sure Arsenal is the club he’ll want to make his return at, but after seeing how former Barca manager Pep Guardiola has found success in the Premier League, he’ll have to at least consider the job. And Arsenal had better make a call, at least.

Arteta is currently an assistant coach at Manchester City, studying under Guardiola, and also has a long history with Arsenal. I’m not sure why the club would go with him over Vieira, as they are on similar management development tracks, one that Vieira is farther along, but at the same time, I don’t really know anything, now do I?

Uh, I guess? Oddsmakers currently have him as the second favorite to take over the job, and Rodgers has done a nice job with Celtic. I mean, Celtic always beats everyone in the Scottish Premier League, but under Rodgers, they have continued to beat everyone. Odds are he wants to get back in the Premier League, so I guess this could happen?

This is one that I’ve seen more than a few Arsenal fans try to convince themselves is a reality. I just don’t see it. I mean, never say never, but Simeone has total control at Atletico Madrid, a squad and situation he seems to love, and the added benefit of coaching at a club without huge expectations to win the league every year, as they’re in a world with Barcelona and Real Madrid. I just don’t see Simeone giving that up for the question marks of Arsenal, and an ownership group he doesn’t fully know and/or trust.

I’ve seen Low’s name thrown around, but he’s currently Germany’s head coach, and they’re right in the hunt as favorites to win this summer’s World Cup, so I doubt this will be a time he’s going out and meeting with clubs about his next job.

Another name I’ve seen thrown out. Not sure why he’d leave Juventus. They’re very good at soccer!

I know this doesn’t make any sense and the club won’t hire him, but at the same time, the club should totally hire him.

These won’t happen but they would make me giggle.