On Friday, a tidbit of information from L’Equipe slipped through our nets, as the French newspaper claimed Arsenal had added Lucien Favre, Nice’s current manager, on their shortlist to potentially replace Arsène Wenger at the Emirates.
The Swiss coach, who has impressed during his time with the Ligue 1 side, even if this season hasn’t exactly gone as well as the last campaign, has been linked with a move away in the summer, as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are also said to be keeping an eye on his situation.
Down Arsenal’s end, a lot will depend on Wenger, who will most likely be allowed to call it a day himself rather than being forced out of the club, and the Gunners’ board are preparing for every possibility.
However, even if Lucien Favre is indeed on their shortlist, it doesn’t entirely depend on them as the 60-year-old still has a year left on his Nice contract.
In fact, the Ligue 1 club’s president, Jean-Pierre Rivière, speaking to beIN Sports and relayed by Le10 Sport, suggested his manager could see out his deal in the south of France.
He said: “Last year, everyone thought Lucien Favre was leaving, but he stayed. I’d say that this year, it’s not a given he will leave. We’ll see. We’re used to busy transfer period at Nice. When you don’t have a lot of money, you have to go through it. We’re not that worried, we try and anticipated things.
“The manager still has a year left on his deal. I think it’d be nice if we had another year, or more, together. We’ll see. I don’t want to predict anything, but we’re calm on the subject”.
At the end of the day, if Favre decides he wants to go to Arsenal, it would be in everyone’s best interest to let the move happen, as no team will want to keep a manager who doesn’t want to be at the club anymore.
Just look at what happened with Watford and Marco Silva.
