Arsene Wenger’s position as Arsenal manager will be reviewed at the end of the season but succession planning has already begun and Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim and former captain Mikel Arteta are among those being considered.

Wenger has ended all his previous 21 seasons as manager with either a top-four finish or a trophy, but the manner of Sunday’s 3-0 Carabao Cup final defeat against Manchester City, coupled with the lack of any Premier League title challenge, has caused concern among the club’s hierarchy.

With Arsenal sixth in the table, preserving that record is now likely to hinge on winning the Europa League, which would also offer a path into the Champions League.

A second successive season outside the Champions League, especially after a series of club-record signings, would put Wenger’s position under severe scrutiny and create pressure for him to leave midway through his two-year contract. Arsenal, though, will consider all aspects of the season and regard all options as open.

Although majority owner Stan Kroenke has always been unequivocal in his backing of Wenger, he has also facilitated chief executive Ivan Gazidis’s off-field “catalyst for change” in a series of appointments around Wenger and the club would feel much better equipped to move on without their 68-year-old manager.