Diego Simeone is the only man to replace Arsene Wenger, urges Gary Neville.
Simeone faces Wenger on Thursday when he brings Atetico Madrid to the Emirates for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.
And Sky Sports pundit Neville says: “Luis Enrique is the favourite and I’m asking the question, looking at it from a football point of view, who is the right person to take over at Arsenal?
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“They have to have a manager who can punch above their weight, and the outstanding candidate for me is Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid.
“Season after season he has challenged, not just in the Champions League but in La Liga too…
“[And] with a team that has a big budget but nowhere near that of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The Atletico Madrid boss has challenged season after season in the Champions League and La Liga
“What the new Arsenal manager is taking on with Manchester City and Manchester United, and to a lesser extent Chelsea, is huge financial might. £150m, £200m ploughed into the team each season.
“If you’re going to compete with that, you have to have an outstanding manager to do so, and Simeone is that manager in Europe at this time.
“He has continually done it.”
Former England and Manchester United right-back Neville was head coach at Valencia so has first hand experience of Simeone.
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The 47-year-old won La Liga in 2013-14, the Copa del Ray (2012-13) and the Europa League (2011-12).
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He has also led Atletico two two losing Champions League finals in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
According to the bookies, former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique is the favourite to be the next Arsenal manager at 7/2.
Carlo Ancelotti can be backed at 5/1, while Patrick Vieira is priced at 8/1.