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Scottish broadcaster and talkSPORT pundit Alan Brazil is of the opinion that Arsenal should swoop in for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha. The Gunners have spent lavishly in this summer's transfer window and have added five new players to their ranks.
Four of them, namely Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Matt Turner and Marquinhos, made their debuts in the pre-season. Meanwhile, Fabio Vieira is yet to feature in an Arsenal shirt.
Despite these quality additions, the Scottish broadcaster believes that the north London club should spend more cash and add Zaha to their ranks.
Speaking on the talkSPORT Breakfast program, Brazil said:
"It is interesting. Ray (Parlour) said earlier he was talking to Edu, and Arsenal might not be finished yet in the transfer market - could be another wide player, another winger. Does it surprise you maybe they wouldn’t go for someone like Zaha? Because when Zaha is on form, he can be unstoppable.”
The Crystal Palace winger has been linked to the Emirates on numerous occasions in the past, but the move never materialized. Zaha came close to joining Arsenal back in 2020, but the recruitment team and club hierarchy instead decided to break the bank and sign Nicolas Pepe for €80 million.
If Pepe's move had paid dividends, signing a winger would not have been on Arsenal's agenda altogether. However, his performances have been very inconsistent and his poor reading of the game has left Mikel Arteta frustrated on numerous occasions.
The Ivory Coast international has spent three seasons at the Emirates and has made 129 appearances across all competitions. Unfortunately, his impact has been minimal, registering only 27 goals and providing 21 assists.
Wilfried Zaha was interested in a move to Arsenal as revealed by former manager Emery
A couple of years ago, in an interview with The Guardian, Unai Emery gave an honest take on his time at the north London club. He guided them to their first-ever European final in 13 years, but lost the Europa League title to Chelsea in Baku.
The Spaniard was inclined towards a move for Zaha, who he believed was a match winner, but his opinion wasn't valued enough by the club. He said:
"We signed [Nicolas] Pepe. He’s a good player, but we didn’t know his character and he needs time and patience. I favoured someone who knew the league and wouldn’t need to adapt. [Wilfried] Zaha won games on his own. I told them: ‘This is the player I know and want.’ I met Zaha and he wanted to come."
Further, the former Arsenal boss suggested that Pepe was seen as an investment in the future. He continued:
"The club decided Pepe was one for the future. I said: ‘Yes, but we need to win now and this lad wins games.’ He beat us on his own. It’s also true he was expensive and Palace didn’t want to sell. There were a series of decisions that had repercussions.”
In hindsight, it's safe to say that the recruitment team got it very wrong and signing the Crystal Palace forward would have been a much better decision.
