Former Arsenal star Ray Parlour has admitted that the Gunners should gamble and try to spend big in the summer transfer window in order to recruit players ahead of the new 2019/20 season.
Unai Emery had a bit of a mixed bag in his first season with Premier League side Arsenal as he guided them to a fifth-place finish on the table, missing out on Champions League qualification. But the Gunners showed some determination in the Europa League as they managed to reach the final of the competition but suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat against local London rivals Chelsea in Baku.
It’s no shocker that there is a lot of work that needs to be done at Arsenal and Emery probably knows what he needs to do but the issue is that the North London club does not have a big transfer budget to build a strong team for the future. Reports claim that the Gunners will be offered a mere £40 million or so transfer war chest in the summer to recruit players.
And ex-Arsenal star Ray Parlour believes that the Premier League club should take a chance and begin to actually start spending more than what they have. While speaking to the Daily star the 46-year-old former midfielder gave Liverpool as an example for the glory they have achieved after splashing the transfer funds, “They are a long way behind Liverpool and Manchester City. Maybe they have to spend a bit more money. You see what Liverpool did – they needed a center-back and in comes Virgil van Dijk. Nobody mentions how much he cost now. The same with Alisson in goal.”
Parlour further went on to explain that in today’s world money is everything and has encouraged Arsenal to go above and beyond their budget, “It’s all about investment. As much as I hate to say that money is everything, but it’s always gone that way. Sometimes you have to go beyond your budget, absolutely. If you can attract a player and you know he is very keen to go, sometimes you have to push the boat out a little bit further and take the gamble.”
In order to spend big, Arsenal will have to offload some big-name players including Ozil and Mkhitaryan at the club and invest that smartly and resourcefully. Emery needs to be ruthless and lay down his philosophy to bring Arsenal back to their best.
