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What’s the rumor?
There has been no shortage of debates and discussions about the future of the under fire Arsene Wenger and reports this morning suggest that the legendary Thierry Henry will see Arsenal's managerial position as a challenge that he will not back away from if Arsenal decide to appoint him.
Arsenal succumbed to a fourth straight defeat in all competitions this week and the future of the manager is the hottest talking point at the club.
In case you didn’t know
Arsenal are currently sixth in the Premier League and 13 points adrift the fourth position. Wenger has given up on a top four finish and their only hope of qualifying to next year's Champions League is by winning the Europa League.
That seems their only lifeline this term and are against AC Milan in the round of 16. It has become a daunting task at the moment because of their terrible run of form in 2018. No club in England has suffered more defeats than Arsenal since the turn of the year. Wenger is adamant to fight on but it may well be the end of his 22 year spell at the club.
The heart of the matter
As a top four finish is a distant dream this season, Wenger needs to focus on winning the Europa League. They have quality players but urgently need a bit of spark from somewhere. Clearly, when the manager's future is hanging by a thread, motivation will be hard to come by.
Thierry Henry's name is still sung by the Arsenal faithful and he is currently working as the assistant manager of the Belgian national team. The striker is one the greatest players ever to grace the Premier League and part of the "Invincibles" team that won the league in 2004. In over 370 games for the Gunners, he scored 228 goals and is without question a club icon.
Although he completely backs the current Arsenal boss, he told Sky Sports that he will never say no to an opportunity to manage Arsenal.
Rumor probability: 7/10
Henry has been tipped by many to succeed Wenger at Arsenal's helm and it will be an appointment that will be well appreciated by their fans.
Author’s take
Succeeding a manager who has enjoyed such a long stint at the club is a hard task and Arsenal need to be extremely careful with the decision. Carlo Ancelloti, Luis Enrique, Peter Bosz and Thomas Tuchel are some of the high profile managers who are free at the moment and it will make sense for Arsenal to go after one of them.
Although Henry has no experience of managing at the top level, it will be an appointment that will go down well with the fans because of his legendary status at the club.
