Big-money Wilfried Zaha buy not a priority for Arsenal, says Ray Parlour
Ray Parlour has advised Arsenal not to blow their entire summer transfer budget on Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha.
The Ivorian attempted more dribbles (249) than any Premier League player last season, while only Eden Hazard (138) completed more dribbles than Zaha (113).
Zaha too much for Arsenal’s budget? Five key things to know…
- Zaha has long been linked with a move back to a Premier League giant.
- Arsenal have reportedly launched a £40m bid for the winger.
- Palace are thought to value the Ivorian at £100m.
- Unai Emery is believed to only have a £45m budget for the summer window.
- Ray Parlour and David Seaman have both advised Arsenal to use that money on a defender.
https://audioboom.com/posts/7297812-kieran-tierney-s-move-to-arsenal-almost-makes-too-much-sense
Zaha also scored 10 league goals for the Eagles during 2018/19 and has long been on the radar of some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs.
However, the 26-year-old is rumoured to have a price tag in the region of £100m on his head – far more than the reported £45m budget at Unai Emery’s disposal – and Parlour has warned against pursuing Zaha in favour of shoring up the Gunners’ leaky defence.
“He would be a good signing but it all depends on how much he is going to go for,” he told Sky Sports News.
“It’s reportedly [going to cost as much as] £100m – which is a lot of money. It’s a lot of money to splash out on one player.
“You might look at other players and other [defensive] positions that need strengthening as well.
Subscribe to Squawka’s Youtube channel here.
“Depending on the budget we have to wait and see what happens but he is certainly a very good player with a lot of quality.”
Parlour has echoed the views of legendary Arsenal goalkeeper, David Seaman, who also believes Emery’s shoestring budget could be better invested into bringing a “good defender” to the Emirates.
“There’s talk of Zaha coming in but that’s not really the position that we need, which is strange,” he said at Arsenal’s 2019/20 kit launch.
“I wouldn’t have thought [Wilf Zaha will be wearing the Arsenal shirt], I’d be very surprised if he did. I’d rather see a good defender wearing it!”
