Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo the favourite for Arsenal job

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has emerged as the leading candidate to be Arsenal’s next manager.

The future of Gunners boss Unai Emery is under scrutiny after the club’s poor start to the season.

The Spaniard’s position is being considered on a game-by-game basis, and head of football Raul Sanllehi has a long-standing relationship with Nuno’s agent Jorge Mendes.

Mauricio Pochettino has been linked with a move across north London after leaving Tottenham.

But Nuno has impressed the Arsenal hierarchy with the job he has done at Wolves.

The 45-year-old Portuguese manager led Wolves to the Championship title two years ago and his enterprising side finished seventh in the Premier League last season.

That brought a place in the Europa League and Wolves initially struggled to cope with the extra fixtures, falling into the Premier League relegation zone.

But they have hit a rich vein of form, now sitting fifth in the Premier League table and poised to qualify from their Europa League group.

Arsenal fans have been calling for Emery to be sacked and the team were jeered off the field on Saturday after they needed a stoppage-time goal from Alexandre Lacazette to salvage a 2-2 draw at home to struggling Southampton.

Arsenal are concerned that luring a manager who is currently in work in the middle of the season could prove problematic.

The Gunners may decide to put first-team coach Freddie Ljungberg and academy boss Steve Bould in charge until the summer, when their top-tier candidates should be more readily available.