The top brass at Arsenal are reportedly at war within one another over the direction in which the club should go after Arsene Wenger leaves.
With the Gunners set to fall short of reaching their objectives again this season with no Premier League title or triumph in the Champions League, there is uncertainty over their future.
Wenger’s current contract will expire at the end of the season, but there has been no official word from those concerned over whether or not he’ll sign an extension.
According to The Mirror, the two major shareholders at the club, Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, are in disagreement over who the next man to the take the job should be.
It’s claimed that Kroenke is in favour of a shake up in the management set-up and wants club legend Thierry Henry to return, while Usmanov is in favour of targeting an experienced and successful coach in Diego Simeone.
The Kroenkes, along with Sir Chips Keswick and chief executive officer Ivan Gazidis will hold the majority of power in making the big decisions at the club, and it seems as though they are keen on Henry, despite his lack of experience at that level.
It’s added in the report that a shortlist has been compiled of candidates with Massimiliano Allegri, Thomas Tuchel and Leonardo Jardim all involved in the conversation, but there has yet to be any approach for those in question as Wenger’s future is still up in the air.
In truth, it’s questionable as to whether either Henry or Simeone would be a sensible choice. The former has no experience in the top job, while the latter would change the entire culture and style of the club and squad from what has been built over the last 20 years.
That comes with a serious risk of destabilising things, although of course it also comes with the possibility of ripping up the form book and pushing Arsenal on.
Nevertheless, Allegri should arguably still be the stand-out candidate as he ticks plenty of boxes that Arsenal will need ticked when Wenger decides to walk away.