Arsene Wenger Reportedly Recommends MLS Coach As His Arsenal Successor

Arsene Wenger has an answer to the $1 million question over should succeed him.

The longtime Arsenal manager has advised the club’s board of directors to hire Patrick Vieira as the Gunners’ next manager, according to beINSports’ Richard Keys. However, Wenger’s support doesn’t make Vieira a shoo-in for the job.

Wenger announced Friday he’ll step down as Arsenal manager after this season. The bombshell marks the beginning of the end of his 21-plus-season tenure with the club, and sparked fresh speculation over who will replace him.

Bookmakers installed Vieira as the favorite. Other contenders for the Arsenal manager’s job include Germany head coach Joachim Low, ex-Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel and Celtic F.C. manager Brendan Rodgers, The Mail’s Sami Mokbel and Jonathan Spencer reported Tuesday.

Vieira currently is head coach of Major League Soccer’s New York City FC, but his connections to Arsenal and Wenger date back to 1996 when he joined the Premier League club from AC Milan. Vieira became a star at Arsenal, helping the club win three Premier League titles and four FA Cups. He also captained Arsenal between 2002 and 2005, when the Gunners sold him to Juventus.

Vieira represented Manchester City in his final two seasons as a player before retiring in July 2011. He worked for two years as a club administrator before becoming its reserve team and elite development squad manager.

New York City FC, the MLS team in which Manchester City’s owners own a majority stake, appointed Vieira in January 2016 as its head coach, and he led the club to the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of his first two seasons in charge.