A source close to former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has told Chilean publication El Mercurio that the current Hebei China Fortune boss was contacted by Arsenal about taking over at the Emirates.
Pellegrini however is said to want to honour his contract at the Chinese Super League club:
“There was an option for Arsenal, they probed it. But Pellegrini fulfils his contracts and that complicates things.”
El Mercurio journalist Rodrigo Fuentealba believes that the enquiry was likely in view to moving Wenger upstairs rather than sacking the Frenchman. There is also a question mark about when Pellegrini was approached.
The Chilean has been in charge of Hebei China Fortune since August 2016, and the source may have just been confirming that Pellegrini was approached before Wenger signed a new contract in the summer to stay at the club until 2019.
The ex City boss has also been linked with replacing Juan Antonio Pizzi as Chile manager after the country’s struggles in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup but the source claimed there was “nothing” in that story.
