A quick Arsenal managerial search update

Here’s a quick Tuesday morning update on all the moving parts going on as Arsenal look to replace Arsene Wenger:

It’s been reported by various outlets within the past day that CEO Ivan Gazidis favors hiring current Manchester City assistant manager, and former Arsenal captain, Mikel Arteta, but that there’s a bit of disagreement among the other two key stakeholders involved in this crucial decision. Head of Football Relations Raul Sanllehi prefers former Roma and Barcelona manager Luis Enrique, whom he previously worked with while both were with the Blaugranas, while Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat would like to see the club hire one of either Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann or Schalke’s Dominico Tedesco.

There’s been no insight as to which person holds the final decision, and we might not know until well after a hire has been made what type of influence and rationale was used by the three to arrive at the person they identified. It’s unclear at this point in time what all the above means, however there’s extremely clear and transparent partisan lines that might lead one to believe that there’s an advantage of familiarity with the new manager. Who ultimately get the nod will tell us a lot more about who’s in charge and how they view the club, organizationally-speaking.

Speaking of Julian Nagelsmann, the manager sought to distance himself from the Arsenal position yesterday by saying all the talk linking him is “just rumors”. There’s little to be read between the lines at this point, since the process has just begun to replace Wenger and Hoffenheim are currently two points behind fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen and, more importantly, that all-too-valuable Champions League third qualification round. His focus should be on ensuring usurping Bayer, and any outside distractions - such as rumors linking him away - would take away from this final run-in for a club that fancies itself among the league’s best.

Carlo Ancelotti is rumored to have been offered the Italy National Team position, and looks to be ready to accept the role if he’s truly out of the running at Arsenal.