Arsene Wenger to Be Approached for England Job After Sam Allardyce's Resignation

The FA is reportedly set to make another attempt to appoint Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as the new England boss following Sam Allardyce leaving the post on Tuesday after just one game in charge.

Per Matt Law in the Telegraph, Wenger, 66, was top of the FA's list when it was looking for a replacement for Roy Hodgson after Euro 2016 and is now prepared to wait until his current Gunners contract expires at the end of 2016-17 to place him in the job.

However, per Law, English football's governing body "face a battle with Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke," who is trying to tie Wenger—Gunners manager for the past 20 years—to an extended deal at the Emirates Stadium. 

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Allardyce left the England job by mutual consent after being caught up in a Telegraph sting in which he was filmed by undercover reporters offering advice on how to "get around" FA rules on transferring players, per BBC Sport.

The former West Ham United and Sunderland boss took the job after Hodgson resigned following England's humiliating exit from Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland.

Per Law, the FA moved to appoint Allardyce only after they came to the conclusion they did not want to wait an entire year to place Wenger in the job—the Frenchman having said he would not break his contract with Arsenal.

However, England under-21 manager Gareth Southgate is now set to take charge of the senior team for the next four matches—against Malta, Slovenia, Scotland and Spain. 

That leaves only one scheduled Three Lions match unaccounted for before the end of the 2016-17 term—the March 26 clash against Lithuania. 

If Southgate could take charge of that match also, the FA would now reportedly be prepared to let Wenger see out the rest of his deal with Arsenal and take over England next summer, per Law. 

Former executive director of the FA David Davies has backed the potential appointment of Wenger, per BBC Breakfast's Dan Walker:

Certainly he has more pedigree than many of the other possible candidates on the shortlist, which includes Steve Bruce, Alan Pardew, Eddie Howe and Southgate himself, per BBC Sport's Saj Chowdhury.

A three-time Premier League champion and six-time FA Cup winner, Wenger also has huge experience of the English game thanks to his longevity in the Arsenal job. 

He would be a high-profile and exciting appointment from the FA, but it will be a very tricky move for the English governing body to pull off given that Kroenke and Arsenal want Wenger to remain.