Ray Parlour pleads with Arsenal board to back Mikel Arteta and makes bleak top-four prediction 

Ray Parlour has pleaded with Arsenal’s board to back Mikel Arteta in the transfer market, otherwise he fears the north London side could be waiting as long as three years to get back into the top four. The Gunners are languishing down in 11th place in the table after losing 10 of their 23 matches in the Premier League so far. Arteta’s side recently enjoyed a mini-revival but their run of good form was swiftly brought to an end with back-to-back defeats to Wolves and Aston Villa.

The board sanctioned deals for the likes of Thomas Partey and Gabriel in the summer, while the hefty wages of Mesut Ozil, Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi were all cleared from the monthly bill as their contracts were terminated in the winter window. But for the club to move forward under Arteta, Gunners legend Parlour feels an influx of investment in the squad is needed or they could be waiting a long time to finish in the top four places again. ‘He’s [Arteta’s] learned a little bit from Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola as well, but I would give him a chance,’ Parlour told talkSPORT. ‘It might take a couple of transfer windows, look at Jurgen Klopp, he got an opportunity. He came into Liverpool and there was a plan. ‘Arteta has got to show he’s got a plan going forward. It might take three years to try to challenge that top four or try to challenge for the league. ‘But we know money does make it easier and that’s where the board come in. ‘If they think they’ve got the right man, please give him a chance by giving him a little bit more money.’

Arteta in confrontation with match officials against Villa

The Gunners go up against Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie next Thursday, and Parlour can see Arteta fielding a strong starting XI given that winning the competition would offer them a route back into the Champions League. ‘I don’t think he’ll be playing a weakened side in the Europa League,’ Parlour added. ‘I was in Baku for the Chelsea game [a 4-1 defeat in 2019] and it was probably one of the worst performances I’ve seen in a final. ‘Arsenal knew that Chelsea were already in the Champions League, so there was more onus on Arsenal to go there and go ‘this is a massive chance for us to get into the Champions League’. ‘We know the result in the game and the disappointment. ‘I do think Arteta needs a couple of windows to get his own players in. [Arsenal technical director] Edu is going to be a big part of that.’