In a bit of a shock, Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly in line to succeed Arsene Wenger at the end of the season.
The expectation was that Ancelotti would succeed Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge, but with the feeling growing that this will be Wenger’s last season at Arsenal, the Evening Standard is reporting that Ancelotti in one of the names considered if Wenger decides to leave a year early.
The 58-year-old Ancelotti has one of the best CVs in football, having won the Champions League on three occasions and succeeding at Juventus, Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
After being sacked by Bayern back in September after a 3-0 defeat by PSG, Ancelotti has moved back to London, where he wwas widely believed to be waiting until Conte gets fired by Chelsea.
Pressure on Wenger to leave Arsenal at the end of the season has grown after the Gunners were beaten 4-2 by Championship side Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round.
While they are still in Carabao Cup semi-final and are one of the favourites to win the Europa League, winning those trophies could be viewed as a way for Arsenal’s longest serving manager to leave on a high with a trophy.
But ultimately for clubs, success is measured in titles and Champions League appearances and Arenal are falling further and further away from either of those two targets.
The Gunners are currently in sixth place in the Premier League table and facing an uphill struggle to qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish.
Their two best players, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil are on the way out of the club and Arsenal needs to rebuild. To go in a new direction.
The knock against Ancelotti is that he has built his reputation of taking experienced squads and making them better. That is not the case at the Emirates. Arsenal need to rebuild and is Carlo Ancelotti the right man to do that?
What do you think Arsenal fans? Would you be happy with the hiring of Ancelotti to replace Arsene Wenger.
Yes, he is a good manager