Manager

A first managerial change in 22 years will make this a momentous summer at Arsenal.

The desire is to both bring an injection of new ideas and dynamism whilst also preserving the regularly repeated “values” that Arsenal seek to exemplify. That means still playing an expansive brand of football, giving young players their chance and having the personality to best represent Arsenal’s image and brand globally.

Arsenal are committed to a full recruitment process but an appointment is certainly expected by the time the World Cup starts, and probably even sooner.

The achievements of Max Allegri at Juventus can hardly be overlooked but he has indicated a desire to stay for one more year in Italy, meaning Arsenal may well go down the path of trying a less experienced option. Mikel Arteta, Patrick Vieira and Julian Nagelsmann are among the outstanding younger candidates but the club do not intend to rush what is a new experience - certainly in the context of Arsenal - for most of the key decision-makers on the board.

The simple target for the next manager will be Champions League football in 2019-20 after falling out of Europe’s elite club competition for the past two seasons.