Ray Parlour tells Arteta to replace injury prone Partey this January
Reports of Arsenal’s ongoing talks to sign Amadou Onana from Everton have delighted Parlour, as the former invincible believes Arsenal must sign a Partey replacement before the end of the window;
Ray Parlour: “I think Thomas Partey is the big question because it looks like he’s going to be on his way. You need to replace him, which is difficult. When he’s in the team, he’s a decent player in that central midfield area.
“I think Arsenal are looking for the future there. Maybe Partey moves on this window. We don’t know. Partey has been linked with Saudi Arabia and places like that. You always have to look for a replacement. Squad depth is so important now because of the games you play, Champions League – you want to be competing in that every single season.
“Everybody’s available and I know Everton probably need a bit of money as well to come in. That’s where Arsenal might be a little bit cheeky and say to Everton, ‘we can give you this for Onana, take it or leave it’, see what Everton say.”
Parlour Explains Why Toney Deal Won’t Happen For Arsenal
Arsenal’s hopes of signing top target Toney in January could be dashed as Thomas Frank stated a deal this month would exceed £100m+. Parlour explains why a deal for a Toney, Calvert-Lewin or Solanke will be near impossible to make in this window;
Ray Parlour: “The problem is that clubs like Brentford are in dangerous territory themselves. Everton, down the bottom of the table, they’ve had that 10 points deduction. Brentford are sitting fifth from bottom, so they’re struggling. To lose your best striker, it puts him {Thomas Frank} in a real problem with the fans as well. Because they want to stay in the Premier League next year. And look what it’s worth if you get relegated, it could be £130 million for the club itself.
To keep a player for another six months, make sure you stay in the Premier League, only then can you say, right, ‘he’s for sale now’. But we’ve got time to replace him as well. If I was chairman of Brentford and Bournemouth with Solanke, or Everton with Calvert-Lewin, I’d be saying to the player, ‘if you really want to move on, you do it in the summer’. Keep us in the Premier League first, and then you can move on in the summer.”
Invincible Urges Arsenal To Keep Nketiah This January
Crystal Palace’s growing interest in Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah this January has Parlour worried Arsenal will be left short upfront;
Ray Parlour: “I do believe you need two, three or four strikers sometimes in a squad. I played in some really good teams that contained Henry, Bergkamp, Kanu, Wiltord. We even had Francis Jeffers at one stage. Davor Suker as well. You’ve got to have that nucleus of strikers because up front you can rotate, you can mix it up. I never like to muck about with a defence too much. I always like a settled defence, but in the forward line you can tinker with it.
You do need options. I don’t think Eddie will go at this stage, but who knows in the summer. Eddie might want to start playing on a regular basis. And if he makes that decision, I’m sure Mikel Arteta won’t stand in his way. If we can keep him and bring a striker in, it does give that little bit of competition up front still.”
