The veteran Frenchman may leave in the summer.
Carlo Ancelotti has emerged as a strong favourite to succeed Arsene Wenger as manager of Arsenal. The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich coach is being considered as a serious candidate to take up the reigns, should Wenger depart in the summer.
The 68-year-old agreed a new two-year deal at the end of last season to take him through to 2019 but, according to the Evening Standard, his position will come under review in May.
The Gunners are currently sixth in the Premier League table having won just 11 of their 22 games this season and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest. It was the first time under Wenger that the club failed to progress past the third-round of the competition.
His future is largely dependent on how the club fare in the second half of the season, but there has been a very clear restructuring behind-the-scenes as they lay the groundwork for the post-Wenger era. The club appointed Sven Mislintat as the new chief scout before confirming Raúl Sanllehí as the new head of football relations in a distinctly modernised new-look hierarchy directly under Wenger.
The ultimate goal is to undergo a smooth transition into life without Wenger, with the higher-ups at Arsenal keen to avoid the troubles that befell Manchester United after the retirement of Alex Ferguson.
In the interest of continuity, the club are targeting a proven manager and Ancelotti certainly fits the bill. The likeable Italian has one of the most impressive CVs in world football, having managed Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
He has won three Champions League titles (two with Milan, one with Madrid), four league titles in as many countries and, pertinently, guided Chelsea to a league and cup double in his first season in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Ancelotti also has plenty of experience operating under a European-style hierarchy, having done so in his last three jobs, and is seen as a man of considerable nous and gravitas, worthy of steering the club competently through a potentially difficult chapter following Wenger’s eventual departure.
He has been out of work since being relieved of his duties at Bayern in September and, according to the Standard’s report, is moving back to London next month.
It will be interesting to see how Arsenal’s season pans out. But, if Wenger does decide to leave in the summer, expect Ancelotti to be firmly in the running in the race to be his successor.
