Arsenal’s search for Arsene Wenger’s replacement has suddenly taken a sinister twist.
It now has appears to have all the traits of a classic spy film, one in which Diamond Eye(Mislintat) has secret liaisons with the Brain(Zeljko Buvac).
Zeljko Buvac’s name suddenly surfaced as a candidate for the Arsenal vacancy, after Jurgen Klopp’s right-hand man at Liverpool became unavailable for work but remained on the books.
“It was for personal reasons” a source from inside Anfield said.
It would have been easy to quash any potential rumours from that point but everyone, including a feverish press and even Sky Sports, were allowed artistic license to imply that something was afoot.
Earlier in the paper trail, there had been reports of a heated exchange between Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and the man who has served as his assistant for 17 years. After that length of association, it’s hard to believe that they would fall out now, after a season that has seen a drastic turnaround in Liverpool’s fortunes.
People usually argue at the other end of the table, after a series of poor results and out of deep-rooted frustration, none of which apply to Klopp or Buvac. Later a link emerged between Sven Mislintat and Zeljko Buvac, both had worked together at Borussia Dortmund. How deep that relationship was is unknown but the press liked the story and gave it their full attention.
Hell, at this rate my greengrocer will be in with a chance of the Arsenal managers job because he sold Sven Mislintat a pineapple and a punnet of strawberries. Now I’m not saying that Buvac will not be considered for the position but at the time of his absence, Liverpool had the Champions League semi-final 2nd leg to consider.
Surely Buvac would have wanted to be involved and claim his fair share of the glory instead of disappearing off the face of Merseyside. Surely his credentials would be enhanced by being part of a successful Liverpool side by potentially winning the biggest club competition in the World.
No, apparently not, but if he has chosen to go missing in order to apply for the Arsenal post, then the man referred to as ‘the brain’ really can’t possess one. However, his name is now on the list which will jiggle up and down the bookmaker’s list of favourites, with each new story that emerges. I genuinely feel that Arsenal and Mislintat will be constantly linked with everyone and their Aunt until the day a successor is announced.
Everyone who has had any association with Arsenal’s head of recruitment will be heavily linked with the post. Well-knowns, unknowns, current managers, former managers, former players, assistant managers and greengrocer are all candidates for consideration. So we await the suggestions of the media with interest but sometimes the least obvious is the most likely and as a result, Julian Nagelsmann has hardly been mentioned of late.
