Five steps for Arsenal to rebuild after Arsene Wenger eventually leaves

Arsene Wenger’s position at Arsenal has been a subject of debate for the last five years or more, but more than ever it looks increasingly like he’s coming towards the end of his time at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners have suffered yet another humiliating collapse in just the space of a few games, with defeats to Watford, Chelsea and Bayern Munich all but ending any slim hopes they had of winning the Premier League or Champions League.

It’s clear that something needs to change at Arsenal – even if the club were to take one or two steps back at this stage, fans are not ready to accept the same season repeating itself over and over again as it has done for much of the second half of the Frenchman’s twenty-year reign.

Manchester United know what it’s like to replace a long-standing and legendary figure, and Arsenal could do well to learn some lessons from the Red Devils’ struggles when it comes to starting for life without Wenger.

Here’s our five-step plan for the north Londoners to rebuild in a post-Wenger era…

Get a proven elite-level manager

In other words, don’t go down the David Moyes-United route of attempting to bring in a Poundland version of the manager being replaced.

Some sources have linked Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe with the astronomical task of filling Wenger’s shoes, but that idea has to be trashed straight away.

Yes, Wenger was a virtual unknown and had less Premier League games than Howe under his belt when he rocked up at Highbury, but this is a different era and it’s a risk the club cannot afford to take.

Arsenal are already struggling to assert themselves as the superclub they should be, so it’s absolutely essential that they immediately replace Wenger with an elite-level manager in the Diego Simeone or Massimiliano Allegri mould.

A job as big as this will take big personality, and while Howe’s work at Bournemouth has been impressive, he’s not yet earned such a monumental step up to a team like Arsenal.

Don’t rely on the old guard

Moyes was understandably keen to keep hold of established and long-serving stars at Old Trafford, but it was all too clear that the likes of Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were well past their best by the time he arrived.

Arsenal really needn’t even be tempted into making the same mistake – yes, players like Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla could be useful old heads to have around and would keep a sense of continuity going at the Emirates, but they’ve not exactly overseen a period of glorious dominance, have they?

Of course, Arsenal for too long have been a youthful side without the know-how of seeing games out or going the distance to win trophies, but unfortunately the same is true for many of their more senior stars.

Instead, a clean break from this era of under-achievement would be far more advisable for whoever comes in next.

Identify realistic transfers quickly

Or this could happen.

Manchester United tried and failed to re-invent themselves as the Real Madrid of the Premier League after Fergie left, chasing big names they were never likely to land – particularly with their choice of manager.

If Moyes is to be believed, he was promised the following names when he took the job at United: Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Cesc Fabregas, Toni Kroos and Thiago Alcantara.

What did they get that summer? Marouane Fellaini.

Arsenal need to be more ambitious in the transfer market, but they mustn’t kid themselves either. Find realistic targets early on and make sure they’re signed, sealed and delivered. There are plenty of players out there who’d improve this current Gunners squad, and most of them wouldn’t cost a fortune.

Cut ties with Wenger completely

If reports are to be believed, Wenger isn’t planning on taking a role ‘upstairs’ if he does quit Arsenal at the end of the season – and that’s good news.

Ferguson’s lingering presence won’t have made life easy for Moyes in his ill-fated spell at Old Trafford, and there’s absolutely no call for Wenger to stick around in any capacity to oversee how things are going without him.

The Frenchman has arguably built up far too much control and influence as it is at Arsenal, and one feels his successor would have little room to work in if the old boss stuck around trying to carry on doing things his way.

Such a gesture can seem disrespectful to a loyal club servant and undisputed legend, but for at least the immediate aftermath of his departure, it is absolutely essential for Arsenal’s progress that they can start afresh without him.

MORE : Arsenal identify controversial replacement for Wenger

Change the culture of the club

Easier said than done, but in a more all-encompassing word of advice, everything Arsenal do after Wenger leaves has to signal a major change in the culture and direction of the club.

Former Gunner Paul Merson has lifted the lid on how Wenger has created an unhealthy atmosphere where under-achievement is accepted at the Emirates, and in choosing their next manager, identifying new transfer targets and setting up a whole new system, the new administration has to be all about winning.

Diego Simeone seems the ideal choice of manager in that respect; the Argentine is not one for free-flowing attractive football, but he’d toughen Arsenal up and his record on a limited budget speaks for itself.

The type of players the club go after must be different as well. For too long now Wenger has recruited on technique over physique or mentality, and passed up realistic chances to sign winners and warriors over the years. Players like Xabi Alonso, Diego Costa and more recently N’Golo Kante have for some reason slipped away and only Alexis Sanchez represents something different in this squad of pushovers.

Big contracts to under-performing players also need to be stopped, with the likes of Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Francis Coquelin and numerous others doing little to justify the security they have at the club: no fear of punishment for poor form, no one waiting in the wings to take their place.

It’s a long road ahead for Arsenal, but it increasingly feels that, the sooner they awaken from this slumber, the better.

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