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Arsene Wenger may not be back yet, but it is only a matter of time before the former Arsenal manager returns to football.
Not even six months after departing the Gunners, he says his batteries are recharged and that he is ready for a fresh challenge.
Understandably, there have been a plethora of offers for a manager with vast experience, who built a historic Arsenal side that won the Premier League title of 2003-04 as invincibles.
He is a coach whose influence in the game will resonate for years to come – and forever with the Gunners, with whom he will be indelibly associated.
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But now it is time to begin a new chapter of a career that has seen him flit from Nancy to Monaco to Japan and then to London.
His answer when asked where he could end up when speaking to Sport Bild was “I don’t know”, but here are five potential locations where he could land.
Paris Saint-Germain
Just because Wenger is coming back to football doesn’t mean that it will be as a coach with a hands-on role every day. Since his departure from Arsenal was concluded before the summer break, there have been rumours rolling around the French capital that he could join the Parc des Princes side as a director of football.
PSG have had problems in that area of late. Antero Henrique currently occupies that function in the French capital but oversaw a shambolic summer transfer campaign that saw the club fail to address key areas of concern, leaving them shorthanded for their European campaign. There is certainly scope for Wenger to fulfil such a role, particularly as head coach Thomas Tuchel is such an avid fan of his.
If a return to the big stage is a pro, there are cons to this particular task. Firstly, it may not have the level of involvement that Wenger craves. At Arsenal, he was the boss, in charge of everything from the top to the bottom of the club. Enjoying such freedom in Paris would be difficult.
Furthermore, Wenger is a manager with strong values, which do not necessarily correspond to those of the Parisian side. He is a traditionalist, who values long-term projects and history. He will appreciate that there is far more substance to PSG than the club is often given credit for, but equally their approach of throwing money at problems is unlikely to be one that rests easy with him.
However, he has a close relationship with president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, which stemmed from his involvement as an analyst at BeIn Sports in Qatar and could have a bearing in his decision.
Real Madrid
Who could resist the lure of Real Madrid? Well, Arsene Wenger, actually. He did so in 2009 when Los Blancos approached, but now out of work and not tied to the Gunners, they appear an altogether more appetising proposition for a man who has been notoriously loyal throughout his career.
“Real Madrid, I think I turned them down two or three times. They are one of the teams I loved as a kid but I felt it was a very sensitive period for Arsenal,” he told beIN Sports.
Despite his previous snubs, they are a club that Wenger would love to coach, according to a report in Le Parisien, and with Julen Lopetegui hanging onto the job with his fingernails, it is possible a vacancy could open up in the new year that would allow him this unexpected opportunity.
Madrid president Florentino Perez is an avid fan of the Frenchman and has followed his career for many years. Still in post, Perez could turn to him in order to pull his side out of a rut that has seen them struggle to transition into the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era smoothly.
The longer Lopetegui struggles to get a handle on things at the Bernabeu, the greater the chance there is of Wenger moving to that team he has for so long loved.
USMNT
With the USA set to play host to the 2026 World Cup, along with supporting roles from Canada and Mexico, they want a team worthy of featuring on the highest stage. Right now, though, the US men’s national team is in the doldrums.
They were stunningly eliminated from the CONCACAF qualifying rounds of World Cup 2018, with the likes of Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras all finishing above them in a final table in which they won only three of 10 matches.
Following that catastrophe, the US have failed to find a full-time head coach, with Dave Sarachan having performed an interim role for 11 months.
For Wenger, it could provide an opportunity to try a different adventure, one that may prove particularly attractive if he wants to take a step back from the day-to-day life of management.
The sport in the States continues to grow, with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic having been tempted across to MLS in order to play out their careers, and after snaring a couple of Europe’s finest players of the last two decades, the US will try to lure one of the continent’s greatest managers too.
Bayern Munich
Currently, the hottest rumour on the block is that Wenger will take over at Bayern Munich, where Niko Kovac is presently under intense pressure after a start to the season that sees FCB sitting sixth in the Bundesliga, four points off the top of the table.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt coach was a surprise appointment in the summer but finds his side mired in the midst of a four-game winless streak, including successive Bundesliga losses against Hertha Berlin and Borussia Monchengladbach respectively.
Bayern are typically far more conservative with their coaching appointments, going for men who have achieved success at the highest level in the past. Preceding Kovac, for example, were a string of modern day greats in the form of Louis van Gaal (Manchester United, aside), Jupp Heynckes, Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti – all European Cup winners.
Wenger might not have climbed to that echelon in a storied career, but he certainly has a CV more typical of a Bayern boss than the current incumbent, who could very shortly find himself jobless.
And while Bayern have a profile that must impress Wenger, they also have the ethos, too. Rarely are they drawn into spending extravagantly in the transfer market, and indeed they have been one of the clubs who have notably railed against the dramatic inflation of transfer fees.
It is also worth bearing in mind, too, that Wenger grew up watching the Bundesliga, despite being born in France, and already speaks fluent German.
China
When it has come to his career, Wenger has never been afraid to take a gamble. This was best exemplified in 1995, when, a year after being sacked by Monaco, he elected to move to Japan to manage Nagoya Grampus Eight.
At that stage, Japan barely had a professional league worthy of note, but it was an exotic challenge that the manager felt he needed to escape the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the European game.
“I couldn't understand what people were saying to me or what they were writing in the newspapers, so I didn't have that to worry me,” he said of his experience in the Far East. “I realised that football was what I enjoyed. The rest is just people’s opinion.”
Wenger’s philosophy towards the game hasn’t changed, which means that the China national team post could be of interest.
Marcello Lippi is currently the man in possession of the post, but he reportedly wants out, which could be convenient for the 68-year-old Frenchman.
He wouldn’t be taking this job out of desire for money, it would be his spirit of adventure and desire to sample a new culture that would be the driving force for this move. But even for Wenger, it would be a left-field move.
