Arsenal are still on the hunt for a manager to replace the departing Arsene Wenger, but his rival Jose Mourinho has found an able successor in his own assistant

Manchester United honcho Jose Mourinho believes his assistant Rui Faria can succeed his rival Arsene Wenger at the helm of Arsenal. He’s even offered to “carry his bags” if such a prospect does indeed transpire.

The French gaffer is all set to step down after 22-years as the Arsenal manager, the longest tenure of any of the current managers. The board hasn’t identified a replacement just yet, but Mourinho believes Faria can be good fit. He said, “I think (so), yes. I don’t know (if he wants to be a manager). You ask me if I think it would be a good fit and I say ‘yes’. And I say it because more than my assistant, he is my friend.”

Talking of his managerial credentials, he said, “If my friend has the possibility one day of a big job I would help him to pack and to carry the bags and to wish him luck. 

“So, if one day that is going to happen the first one to be happy would probably be myself because I met him when he was a kid in his university and we were together for 18 years, so he is a big friend, more than an assistant.”

Whilst there’s no clear favourite for the role, there have also been reports of Jurgen Klopp’s assistant Zeljko Buvac as well as former Arsenal skipper Mikel Arteta, now a coach at Manchester City, in the reckoning.

Author’s Take

Rui Faria might prove to be a good coach, having been an understudy of Mourinho for the past 14 years. But he lacks first-team managing experience. So he can either turn out be the Zinedine Zidane of Arsenal, or the Roberto Di Matteo. It’s dicey. But when you have the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Luis Enrique, Unai Emery et al available, Arsenal must push for them in first place.

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