Wilfried Zaha’s quality is not in doubt, but former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour is not convinced that he is the answer for Arsenal at £100 million ($127m).
The Ivory Coast international has been heavily linked with a move to Emirates Stadium and the boyhood Arsenal fan is said to have pleaded with current club Crystal Palace to grant him a switch across London during the current transfer window.
Unai Emery is, however, working with a limited transfer budget.
He is having to get creative in his recruitment and the general consensus is that he does not have the funds to make a move for Zaha, with other areas of his squad considered to be in greater need of strengthening.
Parlour told Sky Sports when quizzed on whether Arsenal should be approaching a talented 26-year-old: “He’d be a good signing but it depends on how much he is going to go for.
“Reportedly £100m, which is a lot of money. It’s a lot of money to splash out on one player.
“You might look at other positions needing strengthening as well.
“Depending on the budget, we’ll have to wait and see. He’s certainly a very good player, real quality.”
Parlour is not the only former Arsenal star to have questioned the logic of Emery investing a sizeable chunk of his transfer kitty on Zaha.
Ex-goalkeeper David Seaman feels the Palace star would be any unnecessary luxury in north London.
He has reiterated that defensive additions should be prioritised this summer, with the Gunners already well-stocked for creative forwards.
“There's talk of Zaha coming in but that's not really the position that we need, which is strange,” said Seaman.
“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!”
Emery is in the market for reinforcements at the back.
Sources close to a proposed €25 million (£23m/$29m) raid for Saint-Etienne defender Willian Saliba have revealed that transfer talks are open as Arsenal seek to beat arch-rivals Tottenham to the teenage centre-half.
