Paul Merson has written on SportsKeeda that Crystal Palace boss and Gunners legend Patrick Vieira could replace Mikel Arteta as the Arsenal manager next season.
The Arsenal legend believes that if Arteta does not start next season strongly and Palace do well under Vieira, then the Frenchman could well take over at the Emirates Stadium.
Patrick Vieira tipped to replace Mikel Arteta at Arsenal
Merson wrote on SportsKeeda: “Patrick Vieira has done an outstanding job this season and has changed the way Palace play.
“They’ve been unlucky with a couple of last-minute goals going against them, but he’s sort of overhauled an ageing squad and adopted an attractive brand of football.
“Could he be the next Arsenal manager? It all depends on timing, for me. When Sir Alex Ferguson was about to retire in the early 2000s, a handful of names were reportedly in the running to replace him but none of those links came to fruition.
“Arsenal have given Mikel Arteta a new contract but if he starts the 2022-23 Premier League season with a series of underwhelming results and Vieira does so with a string of wins, he could well be the next Gunners boss!”
Unlikely to happen
In our opinion, Arsenal are unlikely to sack Mikel Arteta in the opening weeks of next season and replace him with Gunners legend Patrick Vieira.
That Arsenal handed Arteta a new contract before the season finished shows how much the hierarchy rate him.
The Gunners could have easily waited until the end of the season to make a decision.
Yes, Arsenal are on the verge of missing out on the Premier League top four after looking good for a Champions League place for a while, but we must not forget how the campaign started.
We also cannot ignore the fact that this is a very young Arsenal team who were not expected to end up above Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League table this season.
Yes, Vieira, 45, could eventually become the Arsenal manager, but we do not think that it will be next season.
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