Ray Parlour has expressed his belief that Arsenal should cash in on Alexandre Lacazette to fund a summer transfer spree.
Mikel Arteta is currently in the process of shaping a squad capable of fighting for a place in the top four, while preparing for his first full season in charge at Emirates Stadium.
The Spaniard has already been able to add former Chelsea midfielder Willian to his ranks on a free transfer, while Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares have signed permanent deals after successful loan spells.
William Saliba has also joined up with Arsenal from Saint-Etienne after signing a pre-contract agreement with the club last year, and Lille centre-back Gabriel looks set to follow the 19-year-old to north London from France in the coming days.
The Gunners have been tipped to continue spending in the coming weeks, with Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey reportedly top of their list of targets.
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However, Parlour insists that his old club will have to raise extra money through player sales in order to finance any high-profile deals, and he sees Lacazette as an expendable "asset".
The ex-Arsenal midfielder thinks Eddie Nketiah can step up and replace the French forward, who has been linked with Atletico and Juventus in recent months.
“Lacazette will be the one, the asset,” Parlour told talkSPORT when asked which key players could end up leaving the Emirates this summer.
“You look at the assets they’ve got, there isn’t many really. They’ve got [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, but with him, you’re not going to get as much as you’d like because, currently, he’s only got a year left on his contract.
“Probably the asset will be Lacazette. I know Juventus were interested in maybe buying him.
“Sometimes you have to lose a player to bring players in. You do need to freshen up the dressing room.
“I like Lacazette, he’s a decent player, but we have Eddie Nketiah and it’s all about whether he can step up now and improve as a centre-forward.
“That’s what Arteta will be looking at in training, ‘Is he good enough to play week-in week-out as a striker?’ Probably not at the moment, but he can improve and probably can do in a couple of years’ time."
