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Arsenal legend Ray Parlour picks out "real talent" he'd "love" Gunners to sign

Arsenal legend Ray Parlour picks out "real talent" he'd "love" Gunners to sign

Arsenal hero Ray Parlour admits he would "love" to see Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha make the switch from south to north London.

Zaha, 28, was close to joining the Gunners two summers ago after a phenomenal 2018/19 campaign.

But then-Arsenal boss Unai Emery chose to swoop for Nicolas Pepe, paying Lille an eye-watering £72million for the Ivorian winger.

Emery recently opened up on his failed pursuit of Zaha, while the Eagles talisman has started the season with eight goals and two assists in the Premier League.

In contrast, Pepe has scored just two league goals, leaving Parlour in no doubt Zaha would improve the Arsenal squad.

"I’m sure Emery would have loved to have someone like Zaha but again it’s down to the board and money available," the former England midfielder told  Stadium Astro  .

"I don’t know what the situation was with the funds they had behind the scenes.

"Pepe, they did that in a staggered way, probably paying £15million a year, which suited the French side as well where he came from.

"Probably Crystal Palace wanted the money up front, which Arsenal couldn’t have done at that time, because they need to replace him – if you lose your best player you need to replace him.

"The deal probably wasn’t right for Crystal Palace if Arsenal couldn’t pay it up front."

Zaha played the full 90 minutes as Palace battled to a 0-0 draw at Arsenal on Thursday night, and Parlour added: "Certainly he’s a real talent.

"He got frustrated tonight at times, where they tried to kick him. We saw David Luiz going back and he reacted at times, but we all know what a special talent he is.

"When he’s running at you full pelt, he’s a real, hard player to… I wouldn’t like to play against him as a defender!

"You know he makes things happen, he goes down, he gets free kicks in good areas, he can get penalties at times.

"He’s a real talent. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see him in an Arsenal shirt."

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

Original Story on: GhanaSoccernet
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