After 18 months in charge, Unai Emery has finally been relieved of his coaching duties at Arsenal. The team is currently in a bad run of form and has not won in the last seven matches, the worst run since 1992.
Arsenal has appointed Freddie Ljungberg as the interim manager but announced that the process to find a permanent manager is underway.
Below we look at the likely candidates.
Nuno Espirito Santos
The Portuguese manager has done wonders with Wolverhampton Wanderers. He got them promoted to the Premier League and qualified for the Europa League in his first season in the top flight.
Wolves have already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition. However, Nuno is known for his defensive tactics which would be a continuation of the football Arsenal played under Unai Emery.
Mikel Arteta
The Spaniard was the first choice to replace Arsene Wenger before a dramatic late decision handed the reigns to Unai Emery in the summer of 2018.
Arteta is the current assistant to Pep Guardiola, with whom he has won the Premier League title twice. It’s not clear whether he would be open to a move in midseason especially with Manchester City in yet another heated title race with Liverpool.
Carlo Ancelotti
The Italian is currently the manager of Serie A side Napoli. He has won the Champions League thrice, twice with AC Milan and once with Real Madrid. He also won the Premier League title with Chelsea in 2010.
Ancelotti brings with him a wealth of experience and would command the respect of the players.
Freddie Ljungberg
Arsenal claimed in their statement while sacking Emery that the club has full faith in the interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg. He has won two Premier League titles at the club as a player and was a large part of the 2004 team that won the league unbeaten.
Freddie had been coaching the under 23 teams before he was appointed to the first team last summer. The appointment has a downside in that he lacks experience at the highest level.