The Jurgen Klopp-to-Arsenal rumors are starting

As soon as Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp announced this would be his final season at BVB, I had a feeling this would be a summer of questions concerning the big chair at Arsenal. And lo, it begins, via German sports paper Kicker:

According to tomorrow's Kicker Arsenal are considering hiring Jürgen Klopp in summer. #BVB #Arsenal

— Sandra Goldschmidt (@SanBorussia) April 19, 2015

First of all, yeah. They probably are. Arsenal are considering a lot of things, because every club worth its salt examines itself constantly, looking for ways to improve. That means very little in terms of what will actually happen, though.

If you forced me to place a wager right now, I would bet whatever money I have (which is not that much) that Arsene Wenger is the Arsenal manager when the 2015-16 season begins. There's just no overwhelming reason for it to be otherwise. We're on track at the moment to have the club's best season since 2004-05, with second place and an FA Cup win still on the table to match that season. Beyond that, the club looks to be on an upward trajectory, after influxes of cash from the new stadium and new commercial deals have given Wenger weapons he hasn't had in a while, like Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. We're primed for success. Barring a major and preventable collapse over the next month-plus, there's no reason to sack the club's best-ever manager this summer.

And I seriously doubt Wenger will retire from management, unless the probably-impossible happens and Arsenal manage to catch Chelsea to win the league. I could see him perhaps wanting to go out on top, but what's more likely is that he'll play out this contract (which runs to 2017) and then assess his position. I would not be shocked if he retired at the end of this deal, but I would be if it happened this summer.

Despite Borussia Dortmund's mediocrity this year, Jurgen Klopp is still a manager who's won the Bundesliga twice and nearly won a Champions League only a couple short years ago. I think Klopp would be a fine replacement for Wenger when he goes. But the timing just doesn't seem right. Even if this Kicker report is real, I'm not sure I believe it. Wenger hasn't been asked about his future lately -- and oh, I'm so glad we'll get these questions in the lead-in to this weekend's game against Chelsea, it's great timing -- so there's not a lot to go on. But it just doesn't make sense with what we do know.

I don't know what this is. It might be Klopp's agent trying to leverage a better deal from some other club. It might be totally on-point. But I do not think Jurgen Klopp's time at Arsenal is 2015. If I'm wrong, though, this may be a more interesting summer than we were expecting.