Arsenal: So Is Massimiliano Allegri Interested Or Not?

Massimiliano Allegri has been linked with replacing Arsene Wenger. However, he has now stated he is not interested in the Arsenal role. What is going on?

The aftermath of the loss to Liverpool on Saturday was perhaps more vicious and widespread than anyone could have expected. Arsene Wenger made the rather risky decision to drop Alexis Sanchez from the Arsenal starting line-up and paid the price.

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The Gunners’ first half display was truly horrific. They insipid, dejected, lethargic. They lacked any intensity or fire. They allowed Liverpool to overrun them and failed to initiate any sort of attacking threat.

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Because of the issues, major questions regarding Wenger’s future have arisen. With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, and with Arsenal plagued with the same issues that have hindered their progress for the past decade, the lack of change and improvements have seen Wenger’s position become near untenable.

The rumours throughout the past few weeks have suggested that Massimiliano Allegri is being lined up as a possible replacement. The Juventus manager is currently leading the Italian club to a likely third consecutive Serie A title under his tutelage and he is a highly regarded manager, known for his tactical astuteness and transfer bravery. However, since the resurgence of the reports, Allegri has since rubbished any reports, stating that he will be loyal to his current contract:

"“I repeat what I have already said before, it’s not true. The second thing, even if there was something in it, the first to know and learn my wish to leave would be Juventus. I’m contracted until 2018. I’m not the one to decide my future, Juventus will. It is they who decide because it’s the way I work and have worked previously. When time passes, as we did last year, we will evaluate what to do. And if these rumours were true, Juventus would be the first to know and I haven’t talked to Juventus yet.”"

So is Allegri is interested in the Arsenal role or not? Well, it’s likely that there has been some contact between himself and the club. However, many of the reports have claimed that Allegri has made his decision that he wants to leave. I suspect that that aspect of the narrative is stretching the truth.

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Nonetheless, I do believe that Allegri is a person of interest of the North London club and I do also believe that he would want to test himself in the Premier League with Arsenal. Whether Wenger will indeed leave at the end of the season remains to be seen. But if he does, Allegri is certainly the front-runner to replace him.