Arteta under pressure – who could replace him as Arsenal manager?

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 20 May 2021 15:09 BST
• 4 min read

Arsenal were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday after a two-legged defeat in the semi-final against Villarreal, adding further pressure on the shoulders on under-fire boss Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners are currently ninth in the Premier League table and, with no Europa League victory presenting them with Champions League qualification, they are facing the realisation of not being in Europe next season for the first time in 25 years.

READ MORE: Sack Arteta, sign Odegaard – five things Daniel Ek must do at Arsenal

The success in last year’s FA Cup certainly won Arteta some time, but Arsenal have undoubtedly regressed further even from the time of Unai Emery.

Unless Arteta is given a vote of confidence by the board, it seems inevitable that he could face the sack.

Here, we look at some of the contenders to replace him.

Massimiliano Allegri

Massimilano Allegri has been out of work for a while now after his successful period with Juventus and has been linked with numerous jobs over the last couple of years, including most recently a return to the Bianconeri to potentially replace Andrea Pirlo.

Any big job that pops up in Italy he is usually near the top of the list of candidates, and has even been linked with Manchester United and Real Madrid in the past.

It does seem like his destination could be the Premier League as he has been learning English in his time away from the game, and was previously a candidate for the Arsenal job before Arteta was selected.

Allegri will be near the top of Arsenal’s shortlist this time around, but the Gunners will likely have to compete with other teams to recruit the Italian.

Oliver Glasner

Oliver Glasner is earning a good reputation in European football following his coaching exploits initially within the set up at RB Salzburg before he gained the position of head coach with Wolfsburg.

The German side are on the cusp of returning to the Champions League for next season as they are currently positioned third in the Bundesliga behind RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich.

Glasner is likely to be a wanted man this summer though and has already been linked with the vacant post at Tottenham.

Graham Potter

Following their 2-0 victory against Leeds United last weekend, Graham Potter’s Brighton are now basically safe from relegation for another campaign.

Not only has Potter guided the Seagulls to safety again, but he has achieved it through playing entertaining football which has earned him many admirers throughout the country.

His reputation as an exciting, relatively young English manager has put many clubs on alert, including, again, Tottenham. It seems likely he will make the step up from Brighton sooner rather than later, but will Arsenal take a punt on him?

Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers would probably be Arsenal’s number one choice to replace Arteta at the Emirates due to the supreme jobs he continues to do with Leicester.

Since rebuilding his reputation at Celtic, Rodgers has emerged as one of the best managers in the country and is in a great position to lead Leicester back to the Champions League, with the Foxes sitting in fourth.

However, the Irishman has already distanced himself from the Tottenham job so it would appear he is happy where he is at the moment.

It seems unlikely Rodgers would trade his position at Leicester where he basically has control over all, to the basket case situation at Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger

A romantic scenario would see Arsene Wenger return to the helm at the Emirates to bring the Gunners out of their current funk.

Even though the Frenchman now works for FIFA, he has never come out and said he has retired from coaching, so even though it is highly unlikely, stranger things have happened.

At the moment, though, Wenger is seen as a God among Arsenal fans – even more so now due to how terrible they have been after his departure, so he may not want to spoil that.