Arsenal were asked to sign another midfielder and a replacement striker in January by club legend Ray Parlor.
There is one player in particular the Arsenal Invincible believe his former side should sign if they too want to remain at the top of the Premier League – Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans.
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Parlor dropped the Foxes star when discussing who the Gunners should go to in the next transfer window
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As the former Gunners man advised his former club on how to stay top of the league
The Gunners have had a stellar season so far, winning 11 out of 13 Premier League games – losing just once to Manchester United – and finishing top of their group in the Europa League.
But as the Arsenal Parlor legend enjoys a strong start from his beloved Gunners, he has also warned Mikel Arteta that he needs to build depth in his squad to ensure they can retain top spot.
“January will be important for many clubs, we all know that transfer window,” he told talkSPORT breakfast on Monday.
“There might be some money there for Mikel Arteta to say, ‘Okay, we need another midfielder’.
“We need a Youri Tielemans, like when they tried to get him before.”
Arteta’s side were previously linked with Leicester star Tielemans this summer but the Gunners ultimately never made a bid for the Belgian.
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Parlor says Arsenal need to be wary of potential injury issues holding them back
The Foxes are, however, two points clear of the Premier League relegation zone after a sub-par start to the season.
And with Arsenal only one injury away from Thomas Partey’s potential midfield meltdown, the Gunners could renew their interest in him in January.
Arsenal are also linked with another midfielder, Danilo de Palmeira, but Parlor believes it’s not just the middle of the park that his former club need to invest.
“They need a backup striker in case Gabriel Jesus gets injured,” he continued.
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Jesus is Arsenal’s top scorer along with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli – all with five goals each
“I know they have Eddie Nketiah but sometimes you need the extra striker that will allow you to score goals to win the league.”
Despite offering the Gunners a word of warning as they fly high to the top of the league, Parlor stressed he is still loving every minute of their impressive 2022/23 campaign so far.
And he credited manager Arteta for the club and players’ transformation since taking charge in 2019.
“All I can say about Arsenal is that I like it, it’s great to watch,” he said. “All the fans I’ve spoken to say it’s great, it’s fantastic.
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Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend left Gunners fans feeling like they were on cloud nine
“And a lot of people were questioning Arteta and whether he was doing the right thing. These are massive decisions he made about [Mesut] Ozil, [Sead] Kolassnac, [Shkodran] Mustafi. It was his first job he had to do and he did it very well.
“Now he has a team coming together, everyone is going in the same direction. You can see some players have improved their game as well.
“[Granit] Xhaka has upped his game, he’s been absolutely brilliant this year!”
Arsenal next face Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. You can listen to all the tie updates on talkSPORT Kick Off, live from 7 p.m.
