Arsene Wenger has been charged with finding his Arsenal successor – with Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe in pole position to succeed him.
Wenger’s two-year deal will be confirmed today after winning his battle with chief executive Ivan Gazidis over the appointment of a director of football.
Now the Gunners want him to start preparations for his exit in a similar way to Sir Alex Ferguson groomed David Moyes to succeed him at Manchester United four years ago.
It is understood Arsenal envisage Wenger moving upstairs in two years to take on a director of football role.
But club insiders believe the 67-year-old wants to work as a boss for FIVE more years.
However Howe, who led Bournemouth into a top-half finish this season, has long been the man the Arsenal hierarchy see as Wenger’s natural heir apparent at the Emirates.
But Wenger will have the final call when he does finally decides to call it a day.
Wenger is no hurry to quit and despite fan unrest in calling for the Frenchman’s head, owner Stan Kroenke and the Arsenal board have backed him and even abandoned the idea shake-up behind the scenes.
The superb display by his team in beating Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup Final on Saturday strengthened the hand of Wenger.
It is thought there could be some changes to his backroom staff with fitness coach Tony Colbert and goalkeeping coach Gerry Peyton most at risk.
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