JOSE MOURINHO reportedly dined with Arsenal’s head of football Raul Sanllehi as the club’s hierarchy begin to lay the groundwork on hiring a new manager.
Gunners boss Unai Emery is under increasing pressure to quit the Emirates after his side were held to a 1-1 draw with Wolves that led to him being booed by fans.
Mourinhois waiting for the right job to come along before making a return to the dugout after being sacked by Manchester United last year.
According toThe Times, he had dinner with Arsenal chief Sanllehi, with the Portuguese said to have impressed with his vision for their squad.
The report adds that Emery, who has divided players over his treatment of Mesut Ozil, is said to have just one to two games of credit as the club consider a change during November’s international break.
A perception that the Spaniard’s difficulties with the English language has meant he has struggled to communicate effectively with his stars is also believed to have caused concern behind the scenes.
Arsenal players mocked Emery with “good ebening” impressions after the boss’ catchphrase went viral.
SunSport exclusively revealed earlier this week that Mourinho had already set his sights on becoming the first boss to win major trophies at three English clubs.
The Portuguese has rejected a string of offers over the past 10 months because they were not the right fit, whileany links with a Real Madrid return have been cooledwith Zinedine Zidane still in position.
But he has spoken openly of his love of the English game and has made London his home – another factor that could help Arsenal sell themselves.
In Mourinho’s favour is the strong relationship he already has with Ozil, with the German flourishing under his tutelage when they worked together in Spain.
The ex-Chelsea boss has also spoken publicly of his admiration for Arsenal’s club-record signing Nicolas Pepe during his work as a pundit for Sky Sports.
During September’s 2-2 draw with North London rivals Tottenham, Mourinho impressed Gunners fans with an in-depth insight into how he could transform their attack.
He said: “I think Aubameyang likes to play through the middle because he believes he can score more goals.
“Maybe he can score as many goals playing on the left.
“I could see Aubameyang playing on the left for Liverpool and scoring a lot of goals. Lacazette doesn’t have that quality.
“They have two options. One is to play, instead of having three midfielders playing across a line, have a No.10 that can feed the three.
“Another situation is to bring Pepe from the right into the inside. They can build with three at the back, they can put a right-back completely wide and bring a winger to the inside.
“Pepe coming in and finding Aubameyang with his left foot. Arsenal have a lot of solutions.”
Emery meanwhile shrugged off the growing pressure following a third Premier League game without a win in a week where he has also had to axe captain Granit Xhaka for telling fans to f*** off.
He said: Im more demanding of myself and feel a responsibility to work and come back better.
The stalemate with Wolves has left Arsenal in fifth, three points shy of Leicester, which will stretch to six if the Foxes win their game in hand against Crystal Palace.
