If the European press are to be believed on Thursday, Luis Enrique is the favourite to take over from Arsène Wenger at the end of the season.
Since the Frenchman announced he would step down from his Arsenal duty once the current campaign comes to an end, there has been a rush to be the first to get the identity of the next man right.
The aforementioned Spaniard is top of most people’s list, with Carlo Ancelotti, Max Allegri, Patrick Vieira and Mikel Arteta all mentioned alongside him.
However, there is one man pushing to get Eduardo Berizzo in the Arsenal seat, and that’s Guillem Balague.
The Spanish journalist has mentioned the former Sevilla manager a few times now, first doing so on Sky Sports, claiming the Argentinian is on their list.
He wrote: “He’s close to Marcelo Bielsa, and that’s a profile they like, someone who can continue the style, improve it, but also create more identity for the club, not just the first team”.
Ask any Lille fan this season, and the mention of Bielsa should put most clubs off after his disastrous spell in Ligue 1, and while he’s not the one who will be taking over, if he’s advising Berizzo, that’s not a great sign.
Fast forward to Thursday, and Balague is still trying to get the 48-year-old a job, pushing the links with Arsenal in Spain in his AS column.
The reason behind these potential appointments is the fact the Gunners ‘don’t want to be a team that spends a lot of money, but one with a clear philosophy’.
If that is the case, then Arsenal fans might not be too pleased to hear that, as the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are all expected to spend relatively large amounts of money in the upcoming transfer window.
To us, it seems like Berizzo, if he’s even in the running, is the wildcard.
