Mauricio Pochettino advised not to return to management at Arsenal... and instead wait for a better job

Mauricio Pochettino has been advised not to jump straight back into management at Arsenal by friends who believe he should wait for a better job.

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Pochettino is among Arsenal’s preferred candidates to succeed Unai Emery on a permanent basis.

Pochettino last year insisted he would “never” manage Arsenal and friends have encouraged him to stick to that vow now the Gunners are interested.

Bayern Munich are also interested in offering Pochettino a route back into management and may be willing to wait until the summer.

Sources close to Pochettino believe he should take a proper break while waiting for one of Europe’s biggest jobs, such as Bayern, Real Madrid or Manchester United.

There is a concern that Pochettino would not only ruin his Spurs legacy by taking over at Arsenal, but he would also land himself in a much worse situation than he left behind at Tottenham.

The Gunners face a battle to qualify for the Champions League and could lose strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette if they finish outside the top four again.

That would leave any incoming manager with limited transfer funds to rebuild the squad that is still badly in need of defensive reinforcements.

Arsenal will take their time to work through an extensive list of potential successors to Emery, which includes Pochettino, Brendan Rodgers, Mikel Arteta, Max Allegri and Carlo Ancelotti.

But the club will also give interim manager Freddie Ljungberg the opportunity to prove he can take the team for as long as they need, with sources believing Arsenal’s preferred option would be for him to continue until the end of the season.

Ljungberg, who has been given no indication of how long he will be in charge of Arsenal, will be supported in the dugout by academy manager Per Mertesacker, the former Arsenal captain, as the club looks to address their worst run of form since 1992.

Mertesacker has impressed the club hierarchy since taking control of the academy in 2018 and was promoted to Arsenal’s executive team within months of starting in the job. His academy position is not a coaching role, though, with Mertesacker instead responsible for managing the various coaching departments within the system.

Ahead of his first game in charge, against Norwich City on Sunday, Ljungberg said the club had provided no sign of how long he might be tasked with leading the team.

“For me it is about the team and the club,” said Ljungberg. “I try to concentrate on the future, on the game on Sunday. If it is a few other games, we will see. [There has been] no indication of how long or how short. They just said to concentrate on the next game, do as good as you can we will see from there.”

Ljungberg, who was an assistant first-team coach under Emery after being promoted from the academy this summer, added: “It is a great honour. I feel this energy inside of me and it is special. Of course there is sadness with what has happened with the club, where we are. Then there is excitement for what we can do in the future.”

Asked if he wants the job on a permanent basis, Ljungberg said: “We will see in the future. At the moment I am learning the trade. I have been trying to do everything I can to prepare myself. Of course it is an honour that the club thinks I am ready to take this big responsibility.”

Josh Kroenke, the increasingly influential son of owner Stan, told Arsenal’s website that he has asked Ljungberg to bring some “fun” back to the club.

“My message to Freddie and the players was let's get back to basics and most importantly let's get back to having some fun,” Kroenke said. “I think footballers are at their best when I see smiles on their faces and going out there and winning matches. That's a winning formula to me.”

Kroenke said he will be involved in the recruitment of a new manager, adding: “Because of our confidence in Freddie we're very fortunate that we're going to be entering into our process and doing a thorough search and it's about finding the right candidate, it's not about finding the first candidate.”