While it has been a torrid season for Arsenal, things have started to gently pick up in recent weeks.Arsene Wenger's men signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to boost their attacking options, and that paid off in their 5-1 demolition of Everton last weekend.The Gunners were 4-0 up well before half-time, with Mkhitaryan racking up three assists, and £60m man Aubameyang getting his first goal for the club.They have yet another trip to Wembley to look forward to as well, with the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City just a fortnight away.Arsenal face Swedish side Ostersunds FK in the last 32 of the Europa League next week, which presents a fantastic opportunity to progress to the next round.However, that competition is taking on more significance than it really ought to, with the Gunners' poor Premier League form leaving them five points off the top four.That means their most likely route into the Champions League is by winning the Europa League, as Manchester United did despite finishing sixth last term.And a defeat to Tottenham in the north London derby tomorrow would almost finish their chances of domestic qualification, as they would be seven points adrift of their rivals with just 11 games remaining.
As a result, Arsene Wenger is once again under mounting speculation about his future, with this looking like the second consecutive season that Arsenal will miss out on Europe's premier competition.Paul Merson, a club legend and Sky Sports pundit, spoke about his job on The Debate last night, and believes the Gunners should be looking to name a shock replacement for the Frenchman in the summer.Merson says Antonio Conte should be their number one target, as it looks increasingly likely he will be leaving Chelsea, having failed to back up their title winning campaign from last year."The day Conte leaves Chelsea, if I was Arsenal, I'd be straight on the phone," he stated."Managers like Conte don't come along too often."Arsenal need someone that is going to go in there and upset people. Conte upsets people. He wants you to play a certain way and he'll make you rock solid at the back. As soon as Arsenal get rock solid at the back, they'll be a force."I think Arsenal would say: 'we'd have you next season'. I think they'd be mad if they didn't."But Twitter users weren't quite in tune with Merson, laughing off his suggestion.
The move would be an odd one for Conte given his criticism of his lack of control over transfers at Chelsea, and judging by Aubameyang's move to Arsenal they're going the same way.
It's believed the deal wasn't sanctioned by Wenger, so that wouldn't exactly attract the Italian.
A lack of Champions League football may not be a problem though, given that Conte took the reins at Stamford Bridge without any European football.
It will certainly be interesting to see whether Arsenal take Merson's advice, as well as Chelsea fans' reaction to that move.