Wenger-Arsenal

About halfway through the current campaign, with Arsenal charging at the top of the table and the dream of trophies floating firmly in the minds of any Gunner in the world, the word that Arsene Wenger was getting a new contract made perfect sense. It also seemed amazingly likely that Arsene would quickly put his signature to the new, very lucrative contract, and remain the leader of his beloved Arsenal for many years to come. However, several months have passed, Arsenal has waned, the FA Cup seems all but attained, and Wenger has still not settled matters with his current contract.

The most interesting part of this is the fact that the Arsenal job should be one of the most desirable for the Frenchman. Your only true requirement is to obtain a top four finish. A semi-deep CL run, the occasional shot at a domestic trophy, and one in every four transfers being worthwhile seems to always keep the fans and management off his back. With the might and squad that Arsenal have (and will always be capable of having), the top four should never be too far out of reach. The difficulty of managing a Premier League club should not be diminished, but Arsene has the very definition of a “cushy” situation right now. Considering that he is being offered even more money to keep doing it and he still has not signed the contract, it feels like there is more to the story.

Is there a better job that is out there right now with an even smaller necessity for success? Yep…and it is in Wenger’s home country.

AS Monaco is probably the easiest “elite” level club job in the world. Nobody expects you to challenge PSG for another season or two, getting out of the group stage of the Champions League will be success for a few seasons, and a decent run at any domestic tournament trophy will be seen as a bonus. The money is practically unprecedented, the players will be the absolute best that money can buy, and the club has not tasted true success for years. Add in that Wenger could improve their youth prospects and the future of their youth program, and the Frenchman could be seen as the best thing to happen to Monaco for ages.

While current Monaco manager Claudio Ranieri would probably not be jumping at the prospect of giving up the job and while the president of Monaco has denied any changing of the guard, there are too many loose ends to not make a quick connection. Arsenal will be hoping that their French wizard chooses to stay and lead them to many more years of…decency. Monaco will be hoping that they can continue to grow their little project into a world-beater before the end of the current decade. Where will the Professor end up next season? Only the bottle-killer himself knows…but we are aching to find out!

 

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