Reports: Arsenal managerial shortlist down to five candidates

Jeremy Wilson of the Telegraph is on it. So is the Mirror’s John Cross. And the Daily Mail’s Sami Mokbel is matching the reports as well.

All three are reporting tonight that Arsenal’s search for Arsène Wenger’s replacement is down to a shortlist of just five with three confirmed:

• Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri
• Former Arsenal midfielder and current Manchester City assistant coach Mikel Arteta
• Former Arsenal midfielder and current New York City FC head coach Patrick Vieira

The other names seemingly to fill out the final five are two among:

• German national football team head coach Joachim Löw
• Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim
• Hoffenheim head coach Julian Nagelsmann

Complications from the schedule over the summer including the 2018 World Cup Finals and the summer transfer window are noted. Here’s Cross:

Arsenal want to make an appointment before the World Cup kicks off on June 14, but are also acutely aware of the distraction of the finals in Russia, a shorter transfer window that closes on August 9 and their pre-season plans, which mean that in an ideal world it would be done quicker.

All three reports also note the carryover from another coaching decision made by Arsenal Owner Stan Kroenke: the decision to hire Sean McVay as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. A young and inexperienced coach, McVay took a Rams team that had last posted a winning record in 2003 and put them back in the playoffs while being named Coach of the Year in 2017 (full disclosure: I’m the managing editor at Turf Show Times, SB Nation’s Rams community, and I think McVay is just swell). The success of that hire has been oft cited as a significant influence on both Stan Kroenke and son Josh who is heavily involved in the Arsenal managerial decision.