This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to The Times, Arsenal “would be interested” in talking to Mikel Arteta as a potential replacement for under-fire manager Unai Emery.
What’s the word?
The Gunners have endured a torrid time in the Premier League this season, with their 2-2 draw against Southampton on Saturday afternoon leaving them eight in the table with just 18 points to their name.
Reports in recent weeks have suggested Emery could have just a month to save his job, but now The Times claim that the Spaniard is now “increasingly likely to leave the club”.
It claims that the Gunners would be interested in talking to both Arteta and former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri, with both being interviews for the job last year, before it was eventually given to Emery.
New lease of life
At this point in time, it really does feel like an ‘anyone but Emery’ situation. The Gunners have simply been woeful this campaign, already conceding 19 goals and scoring just 18. The north Londoners have also suffered chastening defeats to the likes of Sheffield United Leicester City, with the atmosphere at the Emirates on Saturday against Southampton reminiscent of the final days of Arsene Wenger’s reign.
The club are in desperate need of a rejuvenation, with a new man at the helm to bring a much-needed sense of direction and purpose. Arteta’s previous experience of playing for the club (he captained the side in his last couple of years) would give him a bit of goodwill to settle in to life in north London, whilst learning under the internationally revered Pep Guardiola at Manchester City makes his possible appointment an intriguing proposition.
And that new lease of life is what Arsenal can really do with now.
