Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis have reportedly identified Juventus’ Max Allegri as the leading contender to replace Arsene Wenger as the new head coach.
Wenger is under pressure to perform with the north London side with suggestions that he may have to guide the club to Europa League success in order to maintain his managerial position.
According to The Star, Gazidis has been hugely impressed by the abilities of Allegri, who masterminded the Bianconeri’s turnaround against Gunners’ rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League last week.
Juventus had found themselves 3-2 down on aggregate in the second-leg of the round of 16 with just half an hour left, but a couple of shrewd changes and a switch in tactical formation ensured that the club turned around the result in the space of three second-half minutes to win 4-3 overall.
As a result, Gazidis is more keen than ever to pursue Allegri and he is now said to be ahead of Hoffenheim’s young manager Julian Nagelsmann, who did tremendously well in his maiden coaching season last term to guide the German side to the Champions League qualification phase.
Despite, any move could lie on the Gunners’ result in the Europa League, where they have a rather comfortable 2-0 advantage over AC Milan in the round of 16 first-leg.
Arsenal’s Champions League hopes via the league are more or less over after falling 12 points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, and the priority will surely now be on lifting the Europa League to qualify for the group stage of the elite competition next season.
