Arsenal’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis – the man who will ultimately recommend a new head coach to owner Stan Kroenke – believes Mikel Arteta could be the man to replace Arsene Wenger, according to Sky Sports News.
Gazidis said the club needed to be "bold" in its search for a new manager and he believes that despite Arteta’s lack of managerial experience, the former Arsenal midfielder has the credentials to succeed in the role.
Arteta, a former Arsenal club captain, has a growing reputation as an innovative coach after working alongside Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Arsenal are yet to comment but Gazidis on Monday briefed 200 members of the club’s staff at the Emirates, explaining how the painstaking global search to find Wenger’s replacement will be carried out.
Arsenal, as a show of respect, avoided approaching potential candidates to succeed Wenger before his own announcement he would step down at the end of the season last Friday.
However, Gazidis, along with head of football operations, Raul Sanllehi and head of recruitment Sven Mislintat, will this week begin discussions with potential candidates.
Sky Sports News understands Sanllehi, the former director of football at Barcelona, favours his former colleague Luis Enrique as the man to take over from Wenger.
Enrique won two La Liga titles as well as the Champions League as head coach at the Nou Camp and is known to want to return to management at a top club as quickly as possible, ideally in England.
Arsenal’s third kingmaker, Sven Mislintat – who joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in November – is reportedly keen on Hoffenheim manager Julian Nagelsmann and Schalke’s Domenico Tedesco.
Thomas Tuchel, who last month was the bookies’ favourite to replace Wenger, now looks set to join Paris Saint-Germain as Unai Emery’s replacement.
At this early stage, both Brendan Rodgers and Rafa Benitez are not thought to be strong candidates.