The Professor May Leave Arsenal?

Arsene Wenger may be going to Real Madrid?  

Some people think so. There has been much of talk of "The Professor" being wooed by Real Madrid, but this is little more than political posturing by Florentino Perez (the likely new president of Real Madrid). 

Perez has also said he wants to sign Arsenal midfielder Fabregas and AC Milan midfielder Kaka.  While he is the likely candidate to become the president of Real Madrid, Perez will not likely be able to pull off any of these deals. Fabregas will likely head to Barca when his time at Arsenal is finished. 

I don’t see Kaka leaving Milan any time soon after turning down Man City’s king’s ransom of a deal.  Similarly, while it is likely that Wenger will eventually leave Arsenal, it will not be for Real Madrid.

Wenger has won more trophies than any other manager in Arsenal's history. He is also their longest serving manager, having been with Arsenal since 1996. His 2003-04 team still is the only Premiership team to complete a season without a loss.

The team itself has also prospered financially under his watch, as the team was able to move out of the library (Highbury) and into their current location at Emirates Stadium.

Wenger is the perfect manager for Arsenal given their current economic state. After moving into their current stadium, the costs have caused the team to cut back on their transfer budget. 

They are not signing the high-priced stars like the other three members of the "Big Four" (or the new wannabe Man City). They frankly can't afford to sign a Torres or Robinho to fix their problems. 

They have to develop their talent.  

There is no better manager than Wenger at spotting young talent and developing them into Premiership starters. He has signed young players such as Henry, Fabregas, Pires, and Vieira and turned them into stars. He signed future stars Bendtner, Nasri, and Denilson. 

Wenger has an eye for young talent that can flourish in his system. 

His reliance on young talent has caused some problems for Arsenal the last few years though. While his young teams always seem to play well in big games, they just as often seem to go through the motions against lower level teams. 

Wenger can blame it on the opponent packing it in on defense or the referees not calling what he believes are fouls, but the truth is young teams are inconsistent. That is true in almost any sport. 

He also seems to be getting more frustrated than before when his team loses, not because they didn’t play well, but because they don’t have the top talent that the other big three have. 

Call it intuition or just a hunch, but I feel Wenger may be getting tired of ending season after season third or fourth in the table. He may be looking for a new challenge, but this new challenge is not going to be Real Madrid. 

This new challenge is going to be as a manager of the French national team. Wenger’s skill as a talent scout and manager make him a perfect fit for this position. He would discover the talented French players and mold them into a dominant side.  

It would be hard for him to turn down a chance to manage his home country and take them to a World Cup. Real Madrid may believe they can sign Arsene Wenger, but he would be a perfect fit as the manager of the French national team.