There’s is no other way to put this, but Arsene Wenger’s carefully built empire at Arsenal is crumbling in front of his very eyes.
Wenger’s influence at Arsenal goes beyond the football pitch, as the Frenchman has become an intrinsic part of the fabric of the club.
Many people believed that Wenger was going to leave last season, as a majority of Arsenal fans had turned against their long serving manager.
People close to Wenger felt that Arsene might actually leave, as he was apprehensive against signing a contract extension.
But a FA triumph at the end served Wenger well, as a record breaking triumph in the oldest cup competition in the world gave Arsene another lease of life at the club.
This was eerily similar to 2014, when Wenger was in the last year of his contract. Not having won a trophy in nine years, the legendary manager knew that his beloved club was at the crossroads.
John Cross, an avid Wenger fan and renowned journalist, believes that Wenger would have left the club had Arsenal lost the FA Cup final against Hull City.
The odds were against Wenger when Arsenal went two goals down within ten minutes, as Hull City were on the cusp of a huge upset. But Wenger’s men showed immense character to make a sterling comeback, and lift the FA Cup after extra time.
Last year, Arsenal had to beat Conte’s brilliant Chelsea side in the final, as Wenger was fighting to keep his job intact. But Aaron Ramsey once again scored the winner to give Arsenal yet another FA Cup, as the old dog lived to fight another day.
One of the big problems at Arsenal was the lack of planning for life after Wenger. The CEO Ivan Gazidis, is actually a firm believer in replacing Wenger, which has created a lot of tension between the scenes at Arsenal.
Over the last few months, Gazidis has brought in Sven Mislintat as head of recruitment and Raul Sanllehi as head of football relations starting next month, which was a huge blow to Wenger’s power behind the scenes.
Wenger has also lost two of his biggest allies in Steve Rowley and Dick Law, as Gazidis has quickly made huge strides in preparing for life after Arsene Wenger.
While the board still holds him in high esteem, the Frenchman feels that Gazidis is trying to push him out of the club, which is something that Wenger is clearly unhappy with.
According to reports, Wenger is seriously considering to leave Arsenal at the end of the summer, rather than wait for his contract to expire after the end of the next season.
The Arsenal board have already lined up Carlo Ancelotti as Wenger’s replacement, as the highly accomplished Italian would be a wonderful man to succeed Wenger.
Watch this space for more!
