Eddie Howe, Diego Simeone, Massimo Allegri…It’s easy to shout ‘Wenger Out’ but just who replaces him at Arsenal?

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James Olley8 February 2017

A central problem with the debate over Arsene Wenger’s future is that there is no clear consensus even among those who want the Frenchman out as to who should replace him.

The lack of a clear candidate to be the next Arsenal manager is not a conclusive argument against change but it does make replacing Wenger an even greater step into the unknown.

As the ‘Wenger Out’ brigade were issuing their latest rallying cry outside Stamford Bridge last weekend, the man many view as the favourite to succeed him was presiding over a Bournemouth team shipping six goals at Everton. Eddie Howe is a hugely talented manager but it would surely be too early were Wenger to vacate the hot seat this summer.

He is the bookmaker’s favourite but there is nothing in his track record to suggest he would provide greater guarantee of finishing in the top four than the Frenchman, let alone succeeding where he had failed in mounting a concerted effort to win the Premier League.

Howe would also have to prove himself capable of handling big players with big egos; a well-placed source claimed he has, on occasion, endured a strained relationship with one of the most senior players under his guidance to date. Ironically, Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere is arguably the highest-profile player he has managed and his stay on the south coast has been an unqualified success.

Howe’s attractive brand of football would resonate at Emirates Stadium, as would his ability to improve players of modest repute, but there are question marks over his record in the transfer market given modest returns from expensive imports including Jordon Ibe, Tyrone Mings and Benik Afobe.

The hope is that Howe — in tandem of course with Gareth Southgate — can prove English managers are still deserving of eminent positions amid a flood of overseas managers.

But the stability Arsenal have enjoyed under Wenger makes it likely a more experienced individual would appeal to the board.

Many of the managerial elite have recently changed jobs — Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte — and perhaps the last of those sought-after options is Diego Simeone.

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The Atletico Madrid boss has broken the duopoly enjoyed by Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain and his passion would seem well suited to extracting the best from an Arsenal squad whose hunger for the fight is consistently questioned.

However, Simeone is not a natural fit for a board used to Wenger’s congeniality and commitment to expansive football. He also has a contract at Atletico until the end of next season.

Massimiliano Allegri is another name linked with the post but while he is keen to manage in England, it is hard to determine whether his success at Juventus is largely down to the foundations laid by Conte.

Leipzig manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is believed to have admirers at Arsenal — his appointment would evoke similar headlines to when Wenger arrived here as an unknown in 1996.

Arsenal old-boys Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp only have the sense of romance supporting their appointment while Roberto Mancini and Joachim Low have only been mentioned in passing. It is easy to shout ‘Wenger Out’ but what comes next is not straightforward.

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