Arsenal’s head of recruitment Sven Mislintat has reportedly identified Liverpool’s assistant Zeljko Buvac as the prime candidate to replace Arsene Wenger as the next Gunners head coach.
According to Sky Sports, the north London outfit are keen to recruit a new manager when Wenger departs from the club this month and Mislintat is said to be weighing up a move for one of his former Dortmund colleagues in Buvac.
Buvac has spent his entire coaching career as an assistant to Jurgen Klopp but Bosnian outlet Pravda BL has recently spread the speculation that his recent absence at Anfield is associated with the Gunners job.
Klopp has previously term Buvac as ‘The Brain’ to the gegenpress style of football played under his management but the 56-year-old appears to have made his mind up for a possible managerial challenge.
Arsenal chief Ivan Gazidis recently highlighted that the club will make a bold selection while picking the next head coach but selecting Buvac as Wenger’s successor does not make sense despite his reputation.
Buvac has spent 17 years as the number two to Klopp and during this period, he has not had much experience in the main role, barring at times when Klopp has had to take leave for medical reasons.
As such, any Gunners faithful may not be entirely overwhelmed by the transfer link and the club could rather look into an experienced head in the form of Carlo Ancelotti, who has previously hinted at the possibility of managing Arsenal.
Luis Enrique was reckoned as the leading candidate to replace Wenger until last week, but the club appear to have distanced themselves owing to his staggering wage demands on top of a sizeable transfer budget for the summer.
