Gunners draw up four-man shortlist to replace Arsene Wenger

The Arsenal hierarchy are seriously considering options to replace Arsene Wenger as the manager of the club according to reports from The Daily Mail. The Arsenal faithful have been calling for the head of the Frenchman for a long time and after their disastrous showing in the final of the Carabao Cup final, it is believed that the fans might finally get their wish.

Wenger’s men put in a lacklustre performance on Sunday, going down to Manchester City 3-0 at Wembley. The final scoreline is believed to be a fair one as the North London side failed to ever get into the game and have been criticised from all corners for failing to put up a fight.

If reports from The Daily Mail are to be believed, the owners are now finally looking to take the reins of the club away from Wenger and have drawn up a four-man shortlist of potential replacements.

German boss Joachim Low is said to be at the head of the list according to the report with other names such as former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, Monaco’s Leonardo Jardim and former Gunner Mikel Arteta believed to be amongst also featuring prominently.

There are also suggestions that Carlo Ancelotti might be in the running as well. Arsenal legend Ian Wright, however, feels that the Gunners will look at someone much younger than the Italian.

“The club need to start looking for somebody who is not old,” Wright told BBC Sport.

“They are talking about Ancelotti, but they need to find the next one like Mauricio [Pochettino], who built his way up.

"Marco Silva stepped on his own ambition.

“Somebody like that is good and can build, have a philosophy and be enthused with drive; someone who can bring in a player that can see his philosophy through, like we are seeing at Manchester City.”

Wenger out?

The Frenchman will be in his last 12 months at The Emirates at the end of the season. However, reports suggest that he will only be allowed to carry out the remainder of his contract only if he is able to secure Champions League football next season.

However, with 10 points between Arsenal and Tottenham (who currently occupy fourth place), it will be a humongous task for Wenger and his men to achieve.

The Gunners have been woeful of late and were even defeated in the home leg of their Europa League encounter by Swedish minnows Ostersund.

With the situation become graver by the day, the Arsenal board might finally swing the axe at the Frenchman who has been with Arsenal since 1996.