Shocking: Wenger Was Close To Landing Top European Job Before The Start Of The Season
Nov 5, 2016 at 2:48 PM
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger entered his 20th year of service at the Emirates earlier this season and is expected to take Arsenal to some success after a strong start to the campaign.
However, his contract with the club ends at the end of the season leaving the club in search of potential candidates to replace him in London.
But according to recent reports, the Frenchman almost joined Spanish outfit Real Madrid last season.
In a story run by the Daily Mail, it is revealed that Florentino Perez, the owner of the Bernabeu outfit, had the Arsenal manager in the shortlist of coaches who can take care of the Real Madrid squad for years to come.
The Spanish outfit took a bold decision to sack Rafa Benitez just a few months into his time at the club and there were a number of candidates who could have taken over the club at that time.
The report suggests that Perez was happy with Zidane taking over the club for the rest of the season from January and had a couple of managers in mind to replace him with, if the experiment does not work.
The French midfield legend helped Real to their 11th Champions League title and will keep his place at the club for a long time but Arsene Wenger was in the shortlist of candidates who could have replaced Zidane if the experiment did not work.
Wenger has been a long-term target for the Spanish outfit but they have not been able to lure him out of the Emirates for more than a couple of years now.
It is also understood that the Arsenal manager was aware of the interests from the Spanish giants but decided to stay at the Emirates out of loyalty.
Having failed to win a Champions League in his term as a manager, the chance to coach Real Madrid all the way will surely be enticing but now that Zidane is expected to help them to many more, it leaves very little chance for Wenger to make a move to Spain.
The Arsenal manager will have to decide on his future quickly and if he wants to continue his career elsewhere as a coach, there will be many teams ready to snap him up in Europe.
However, he will surely be distorted that he could not land the Real Madrid job when it was possible.
Do you think Wenger has a chance to coach the Bernabeu outfit in the next few years?