Dele Alli would be a shrewd addition for Arsenal at £50 million ($64m), says Ray Parlour, with the out-of-sorts England international told he could rediscover his spark by crossing the fierce north London divide from Tottenham Hotspur.
Jose Mourinho has dropped the 24-year-old down the pecking order at Spurs, with there “too many players” of a similar ilk at the Portuguese’s disposal, he claims.
Transfer talk has been sparked, with potential moves to Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain mooted.
The window is open until October 5, with Parlour suggesting that Mikel Arteta should join the bidding. He concedes that Tottenham are unlikely to enter into talks with a direct rival, but Arsenal could ask questions amid their ongoing efforts to bring another goal-scoring midfielder into their ranks.
Former Gunners winger Parlour told talkSPORT: “He’d be more of a fit than Jorginho, if I’m being honest. I’ve always said they are lacking goals from midfield.
“I don’t think Spurs would sell Dele Alli to Arsenal, I think there would be uproar from the Spurs fans if that happened.
“He would certainly be a good fit. I’m trying to think what he would be worth. I would say £50m has got to be the marker.”
Parlour added: “One thing about Arsenal, I think they are lacking goals from central midfield areas, so he could tick that box. He does score goals, he will probably get you 10 from midfield if he plays on a regular basis. Whether he could get more under Arteta, I don’t know.
“What he has done with the other players, certainly they are responding to Arteta. I’m sure Dele Alli would be exactly the same. I’m not saying Jose Mourinho can’t get more out of Dele Alli, maybe he is still pushing now.
“Arsenal fans would be pretty happy because you’re getting a quality player off your rivals. If he started playing week in, week out, started putting in performances like we saw when he joined Spurs, then I’m sure they would be delighted.”
Arsenal have already signed one attacking midfielder from a London rival in this transfer window, bringing in Willian on a free after his Chelsea contract expired.