Sky Sports pundit and former Arsenal ace Paul Merson has urged the club to move for Mauricio Pochettino after his exit from Tottenham.
The Argentine tactician left Spurs last week and was swiftly replaced by Jose Mourinho. Now he begins the process of looking for his next job and it remains to be seen whether or not that will keep him in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, on the other side of north London, Arsenal continue to struggle as they’ve slipped down to eighth place in the Premier League table and are without a win in their last five league outings.
In turn, the pressure will undoubtedly be building on Unai Emery to turn things around and get them back on track as they will be aiming for a top-four finish this season to secure a return to the Champions League next year.
However, Merson has suggested that they should look to make a change on the bench now that Pochettino is available, although he has raised doubts over whether or not it will materialise but perhaps another disappointment against Norwich City could spell the end for Emery.
“Arsenal should go for Mauricio Pochettino. He’s not won anything, but he improved Tottenham over five years, tenfold. He’s a top manager and he is about at the moment,” Merson wrote in his Sky Sports column.
“I know he managed at Tottenham, but George Graham had been at Arsenal when he went the other way. You’ve got to get past that sort of stuff. These top managers don’t come along too often, where you don’t even have to pay anything for them.
“Can I see it happening? No. Should it happen? Yes. But it won’t happen. I still see Emery being there for a while. They had a chance to get rid of him before the international break. It’s worrying times, and with Norwich away this weekend, I think Emery will do well to get on the coach if they don’t win that game.”
Merson slightly contradicts himself above, but if Arsenal don’t get back to winning ways sooner rather than later, Emery will surely be at risk of losing his job, at which point Pochettino may well become a serious target if he is open to the idea of crossing the divide in north London.