Wenger expects female managers in Premier League

Arsene Wenger says there could be female managers in the Premier League in the next 10 to 15 years.

The Arsenal boss, who signed a two-year contract extension at Emirates Stadium at the end of last season, told a Football Writers’ Association event in London that he foresees changes in the way top-flight clubs are run.

Wenger was reported to have railed against the introduction of a director of football at Arsenal as his unseemly contract saga rumbled on and he senses a move towards more technical analysis in the running of clubs, with a shift away from what he terms “football specialists”. 

“I’m personally convinced that [a female manager in the Premier League] will happen soon,” he said.

“I’m convinced in 10 or 15 years it will not necessarily be a football specialist who is a manager of a club.

“You will have so many scientists around the team that [the people] who will bring out the team to play on Saturday will be more management specialists than football specialists.

“[This is] because the football decisions will be made by technological analysis.”

In Wenger’s homeland, Corinne Diacre is the head coach of Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot, a position she has held since becoming the first woman to led a professional men’s team in a competitive match in France three years ago.