Spanish football expert panics Tottenham fans, warns Arsenal over possible €100m kitty, argues Gunners candidate is wrong choice

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Sky Sports pundit Guillem Balague has had his say on a number of on-going scenarios, including a possible successor for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

The French tactician has been linked with an exit at the end of the season when his contract expires, and a whole host of managers have been linked with being his successor.

One man on that list is Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone, but for Balague, it would be a very risky decision despite the Argentine’s class as it would go against everything that has been engrained into Arsenal as a football club over the last 20 years.

“I do not know why so many Arsenal fans feel that this would be a good idea! It is like people do not realise what Arsenal have been building under Arsene Wenger… it would be like taking the team in a different direction,” he told Sky Sports in a Q&A session.

“It would be such a change of direction that it does not make sense at all to get Simeone to Arsenal.”

Meanwhile, there was more bad news for Arsenal fans as Balague was asked about Alexis Sanchez and whether or not the Chilean international would possibly return to La Liga.

The Spaniard revealed that Atleti would be an obvious choice in the event that Antoine Griezmann leaves this summer as they would be armed with the €100m release clause to go out and sign Sanchez and Diego Costa.

Given the talismanic forward’s troubled demeanour in recent weeks, this will be a major concern for Arsenal supporters as his contract expires next summer and so the race is on to get him to commit or risk losing him to Atleti at the end of the season with Manchester United linked with a move for their French forward.

There was also bad news for Tottenham in his Q&A, as while discussing the breakdown at Barcelona and Luis Enrique’s problems, he believes that Mauricio Pochettino would be one of the better fits to take the job next after the campaign is over.

“I think that Sampaoli or Pochettino are better placed than any other in the market to do that.

“I feel that Pochettino has got a lot of admirers at the Camp Nou, but he was Espanyol captain and that would make difficult his move to Barcelona. And he feels he has a job to do at Spurs of course.”

It remains to be seen what happens this summer, but there is sure to be plenty of intrigue and questions in the months ahead to determine who will be moving where.

More Stories Alexis Sanchez Antoine Griezmann Arsene Wenger Diego Costa Diego Simeone Mauricio Pochettino