Sacked in September by Spanish team Valencia, Marcelino has reportedly arrived in London for job prospects in the Premier League. Out of work at the start of the season, Marcelino is rumored to be on the shortlist of Arsenal to replace Unai Emery. Another possibility is coaching Everton.
Marcelino spending time in the English capital fueled speculation he might soon be the head coach of a Premier League club. At present, there are two vacancies waiting for the Spaniard, and one is the spot recently left by his compatriot Emery.
His presence in London further stirred up talks of Marcelino heading the Gunners next, Metro reported.
It's just ironic that Marcelino is supposed to be in consideration by a club that decided to let go of Emery, who was a manager for Valencia.
Per the same report, Arsenal is doubling down on the effort to search for a replacement as interim manager Freddie Ljungberg seemed unable to provide the turnaround that the club is looking for. Ljungberg acted as head coach in the last two games, and the results were not impressive.
At the latest, he suffered a loss versus Brighton, and before that was a draw against Norwich. In effect, the Gunners have extended their winless run in the league that started in October.
According to Mirror, the hierarchy at the Emirates has made contacts with Marcelino, but the same move was also made by Everton, which recently booted out Marco Silva. The Spaniard, however, seemed more inclined to work with Arsenal.
"While he [Marcelino] is yet to reach a verdict on the Arsenal post, he is believed to have told Everton he is not interested," the same report claimed.
It is understood, though, that if Edu, the technical director for Arsenal, has the last say on the matter, he prefers Patrick Vieira to manage the Gunners. Vieira is the head coach for an Italian team at the moment and will not be available until 2021, but Arsenal can still make him an offer.
Edu favoring the Frenchman is understandable. The two were teammates for Arsenal in the early 2000s and were part of the so-called Invincibles in 2004 that finished the season unbeaten and took home the league title.
Apart from Marcelino and Vieira, Mauricio Pochettino, Mikel Arteta, and Niko Kovac are also considered as strong contenders for the Arsenal coaching job. Pochettino, however, is also rumored to be targeted by Manchester United while Arteta has a contract with Manchester City.
Kovac is readily available as he was released recently by Bayern Munich, but the German has insisted he's not on the Arsenal shortlist.
