Arsenal line up Thierry Henry to replace Arsene Wenger

Arsenal have reportedly identified legendary forward Thierry Henry as their top candidate to replace Arsene Wenger, should the Frenchman leave The Emirates at the end of the season. Owner Stan Kroenke and his son and non-executive director Josh are both huge admirers of Henry, whose dream is to one day manage Arsenal.

The World Cup winner is currently working under Roberto Martinez as Belgium's assistant manager and The Telegraph reports that he will pass his Uefa Pro licence before the beginning of next season. Henry used to be part of Arsenal's coaching set-up but left his role as Under-18 coach in order to carry on his career in the media.

The former Barcelona striker is close with Josh Kroenke and has already discussed his plans for the future with the Arsenal chief, who believes Henry could follow in the footsteps of his former teammate Zinedine Zidane and boss Pep Guardiola, who worked with Real Madrid and Barcelona's youth teams before making the step up to manager of the senior team.

Henry has worked well with the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco as Belgium assistant boss but would presumably have to leave his post with the Red Devils in order to replace Wenger, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

The Frenchman recently revealed that his preference is to stay at Arsenal beyond of the end of the season but was keen to stress that he will respect any decision that the club's board make.

Wenger's future has long been a bone of contention among Arsenal fans and the criticism directed at the former Strasbourg manager intensified after the Gunners produced another simply abysmal performance against Liverpool on Saturday. Another disheartening display against German giants Bayern Munich in the second leg of their last 16 Champions League tie on Tuesday evening could further damage the relationship between Wenger and the supporters.