Arsenal's Recruitment Chief Wants Liverpool Assistant As Arsene Wenger Successor

Arsenal’s search for Arsene Wenger’s long-term successor continues with the north London club’s hierarchy not leaving any stone unturned as they look for an able manager to guide the club into the new era.

Wenger announced his decision to leave the club after 22-years at the helm in April, and the club have identified a number of candidates as potential replacements since.

Luis Enrique was the bookies’ favorite when the Frenchman confirmed his departure at the end of the season with Carlo Ancelotti, Thomas Tuschel and former players Patrick Vieira and Mikel Arteta also in contention.

According to Sky Sports, Arsenal are keen to appoint Wenger’s successor as soon as possible after the season ends and have now added a new candidate to the list. The report claims that the Gunners are now after Liverpool assistant manager Zeljko Buvac, who recently stepped away from first-team duties to add fuel to the speculation.

Liverpool are adamant that Buvac remains an employee of the club and that his stepping away from first-team duties is due to personal reasons, but Bosnian publication Pravda BL are reporting that Jurgen Klopp’s second in command has everything in place to take over at Arsenal once Wenger departs at the end of the season.

Sky Sports are suggesting that it is Arsenal’s head of recruitment Sven Mislintat, who joined last year from Borussia Dortmund, that is pushing for this move. Buvac, who has been Klopp’s number two from his days as the manager of Mainz in the Bundesliga, has previously worked with Mislintat at Dortmund.

The Gunners’ head of recruitment is said to be keen to bring Liverpool’s assistant manager to the Emirates Stadium as he believes the Bosnian will be perfect to complete the three-man team which includes himself, Buvac and Arsenal’s head of football relations Raul Sanllehi.

Buvac has been described as "the brain" by Klopp in the past, but it will be a risk to appoint a coach with no experience as the number one at a club the size of Arsenal and the expectations that come with it.

While the manager search continues in the background, Arsenal are preparing for their biggest game of the season against Atletico Madrid in the second-leg of the semi-finals of the Europa League on Thursday.

Arsenal are sixth in the Premier League and the only way they can end their hiatus from the Champions League is by winning the second-tier European club competition. Wenger has urged his team to give a good end to his 22-year stay at Arsenal by making their second European final under him.

Atletico will be the favorites owing to their away goal advantage following the 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium in the first-leg. The Spanish side’s defense has been almost impossible to break at home this season and it will take a herculean task for Arsenal to come away with a win that is needed to progress to the final at Lyon.

The game will take place at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium — the home of Atletico Madrid — on Thursday with kickoff at 10.30 a.m. EDT.