Arsenal hero urges Mikel Arteta to wreck Liverpool signing of terrific World Cup man; Gunners need ‘different class’ star too

Former Arsenal player Ray Parlour has urged the Gunners to beat Liverpool to the signing of a breakout World Cup star, as well as his ‘different class’ team-mate.

Arsenal apparently have a few big transfers lined up for the January window. As per The Athletic’s David Ornstein, their ‘priority’ is to sign Ukrainian winger Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk.

While Shakhtar publicly rate Mudryk at €100million (currently £87.1m), Ornstein believes they will sell for less than this.

There is a good chance Mudryk will end up at the Emirates this winter as Arsenal are happy to spend big on him and the player himself likes Arsenal as a next move.

Thursday’s Euro Paper Talk claims Arsenal are also looking into a deal for Lazio talisman Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. According to sources in Italy, Mikel Arteta’s side have even begun discussions with the midfielder’s representative.

On top of these two deals, Arsenal have been put in the mix for several centre-forwards following Gabriel Jesus’ knee surgery. One option they are looking at is Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix.

He is pushing to leave Atleti as soon as possible and ‘favours’ a move to Arsenal over Aston Villa, one journalist states.

Arsenal are not the richest club in England and this will prevent them from completing all three deals in one transfer window. But it wouldn’t be a surprise if one, or even two, of those players joined Arsenal this winter.

Ray Parlour sends Arsenal transfer advice

Parlour, who made over 450 appearances for the north London side between 1991 and 2004, has recommended Arsenal join the hunt for two Morocco stars.

Following their impressive performance and unfortunate defeat to France in the World Cup semi-finals, Parlour has told Arsenal to wreak havoc on Liverpool’s plan to sign Sofyan Amrabat.

Before that, the pundit told talkSPORT why Arsenal should consider capturing Amrabat’s team-mate Azzedine Ounahi as well.

“Ounahi, the No.8, he is different class,” Parlour declared. “Would I take him at Arsenal? Definitely!

“With that performance and what I’ve seen of him in this tournament, he’s not fazed by big games, the biggest game for his country maybe ever.

“He just looked so comfortable, he was always on the half-turn and looking to probe and try to get balls in behind the full-backs.

“Morocco were very good. The way they pass the ball and move, they were excellent.

Pundit wants Gunners to go after Liverpool-linked star

“Amrabat, he’s a player, too. If I was Arsenal I’d be looking at him. Central midfield, he can get his foot in. A very good player.”

Liverpool have been heavily linked with Fiorentina’s Amrabat in recent days. He is flattered by their interest in him, and his agent reportedly ‘dreams’ of getting him an Anfield move.

It would be a big turn of events if Arsenal took Parlour’s advice and beat Liverpool to Amrabat’s services.

It would probably be easier for the Gunners to land Ounahi. The 22-year-old is currently playing for Ligue 1 side Angers. As they are one of the smaller teams in the French top flight, they would be happy to sell Ounahi to make some money.

Midfield is definitely an area Arsenal need to strengthen. This is due to Thomas Partey’s injury concerns, Mohamed Elneny’s age and Albert Sambi Lokonga’s lack of quality. Perhaps Arsenal should go for the left-field option and sign either Amrabat or Ounahi to improve the position.

Meanwhile, we’ve taken a look at five players Arsenal may pursue in January to replace Jesus.