- The Sun claimed that Arsenal could launch £35m bid for Zaha
- Sanchez could leave the club next summer with his contract expiring
- Parlour believes Zaha could take his game to the next level at a top club
- READ MORE: Arsenal to replace Alexis Sanchez with this £35m Premier League star, no one saw this coming
Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has given his verdict on speculation linking Wilfried Zaha with a move to the Gunners next year to fill a major void.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has a possible headache ahead, as both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will see their contracts expire next summer and they could move on a free transfer.
In the event that new deals aren’t agreed upon, ultimately the north London giants will have to decide on whether to cash in during the January transfer window or wait and risk losing them for nothing.
As per The Sun over the weekend, it was claimed that Arsenal could look to Zaha as a possible replacement for Alexis Sanchez with a £35m bid for the Crystal Palace winger being touted.
That’s a lot of money for a player who hasn’t quite reached the level expected of him when he earned a move to Manchester United, while his statistics aren’t particularly overwhelming with 15 goals and 19 assists in 119 Premier League appearances.
Nevertheless, Parlour believes that a move to Arsenal could help take his game to the next level, and while he would have a job on his hands to replace what Sanchez offers to the team, the pundit does believe that he could be a smart addition.
“He’s a player that can run at you, he’s got great pace,” he told talkSPORT, as reported by The Express. “I think he will improve and in a better team you might get more out of him.
“Alexis Sanchez, you’re going to be losing 25 goals a season. That’s the big problem Arsenal have, how do you replace that?
“Certainly if you can get the best out of him, Zaha, he’s very dangerous on his day. He can change a game for you, like he has done in recent weeks for Palace.”
Sanchez hasn’t found his best form so far this season, but he registered 30 goals and 19 assists in 51 outings last season, and so that shows the scale of the job to replace him moving forward if he does leave.
Zaha alone will surely fail to fill the void, but you can understand Parlour’s argument as to why he could do a decent job at Arsenal. Whether or not it’s a risk that Wenger is willing to take will be revealed next year but naturally his hope will still be to convince Sanchez to stay as it’s difficult to replace such world-class talent.