Arsenal: Top 5 Unai Emery replacements

1 of 5

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Mikel Arteta, assistant coach of Manchester City looks on prior to the Group F match of the UEFA Champions League between Manchester City and Olympique Lyonnais at Etihad Stadium on September 19, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) /

Arsenal are seemingly on the verge of sacking head coach Unai Emery. If they do make such a decision, here are the top five candidates the club should consider as his successor.

Unai Emery is on ‘borrowed time’ per The Times. According to other sources, the Arsenal board are split on the Spaniard, with an increasing number believing that he should be sacked here and now. The players are also now beginning to lose faith in their manager, which you could read from their body language during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Southampton. It seems, then, that the end is near for Emery. But if that is the case, who should the Gunners consider to replace him?

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Can we talk about something else?

Well, here are the top five candidates that Arsenal should be turning to first.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 22: Manager Julian Nagelsmann speaks to the media during the 1899 Hoffenheim Press Conference at Anfield on August 22, 2017 in Liverpool, England. The second leg of the UEFA Champions League qualifier between Liverpool and Hoffenheim will take place on August 23rd. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /

5. Julian Nagelsmann

There are few hotter prospects in the management scene than Julian Nagelsmann. He is so highly thought of that RB Leipzig actually hired him a year before he would arrive at the club! But now Nagelsmann is at the helm at Leipzig, he is once again proving his coaching chops, building a team rivalling the very best in the Bundesliga.

Hired as the youngest head coach in German football history at just 28, Nagelsmann first rescued Hoffenheim from relegation in the 2015/16 season, leading his team to seven wins in their final 14 points to overturn a seven-point deficit from safety and keep them in the division. The next season, Nagelsmann led Hoffenheim to a fourth-place finish and was named the Bundesliga Manager of the Season and the German Football Manager of the Season.

In 2019, he then moved to RB Leipzig. In his first season in Leipzig, he has his team in second position in the table, just one point behind the leaders, and largely viewed as very genuine title contenders against the might of Bayern Munich. Having only just arrived at RB Leipzig, Nagelsmann will be difficult and expensive to prise away, but his coaching record is undeniable. Arsenal should, at the very least, not make an approach.

Home/Arsenal News