Candidate ready to hold talks as Arsenal’s 3-man shortlist to replace Emery emerges

Arsenal have started their search for Unai Emery’s replacement with Mauricio Pochettino, Mikel Arteta and Max Allegri all in the running for the job, according to the Daily Mail.

Emery is on the brink of being sacked following another inept performance that saw Arsenal score a last gasp equaliser to salvage a barely deserved 2-2 draw with Southampton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Arsenal now sit eighth in the Premier League table – eight points off the top four – after making it six games without a win following the draw with the Saints  – who are second from bottom in the division and were beaten 9-0 at home by Leicester recently.

Fans are understandably furious, not only with the results but with the woeful performances that have become the norm this season, so the pressure is mounting on Emery’s shoulders.

The Daily Mail claim that head of football Raul Sanllehi and technical director Edu are prepared to give Emery more time to improve things but other members of the Arsenal board want to pull the trigger now.

The newspaper says the club have now begun the process of finding a new manager and Arteta is once again a leading candidate after narrowly missing out to Emery when Arsenal replaced Arsene Wenger 18 months ago.

As reported by The Times, Arteta is ready to hold formal talks with Arsenal’s hierarchy again and Pep Guardiola has suggested he won’t stand in the former midfielders way if he’s offered the job at the Emirates.

However, the Daily Mail says Allegri is also in the frame after being interviewed for the job last year and he’s available after leaving his role with Juventus back in May following a hugely successful five-year spell in Turin that saw him win five consecutive Serie A titles.

Interestingly, the newspaper says Pochettino is also admired by members of the Arsenal board but it seems unlikely the Argentinean coach would accept the job given he’s just left our arch-rivals Tottenham.

If we don’t hire Arteta, Allegri or Pochettino and none of our other candidates are available mid-season, the Daily Mail says Arsenal may decide to offer Freddie Ljungberg and Steve Bould the task of seeing out the rest of the campaign before reassessing things in the summer.

Arsenal face Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday before taking on Norwich, Brighton and West Ham in the league so the board may give Emery another two-weeks to save his job as they are good fixtures on paper.

However, the writing seems to be on the wall for the Spaniard and another poor result over the next few games would surely see his time in north London come to an end with Arteta, Allegri or Pochettino lined-up as potential replacements.