Mikel Arteta urged to make a move for Brighton defender Lewis Dunk.
Arsenal has had problems at the back this season and it seemed like they would solve that problem when they flew Pablo Mari down for his medical.
However, the Spaniard returned to Brazil with reports some reports claiming the deal is dead in the water and others saying it is still very much alive.
Mikel Arteta has been open about his desire to sign a new defender this month and the injury to Calum Chambers has made it even more important.
Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has urged Arteta to look no further than in the Premier League and he reckons that Lewis Dunk at Brighton can be just the solution that he needs.
He insists that the defender might be playing for a team like Brighton but he can become a world-class player under Mikel Arteta.
“I’d take a gamble on people like Lewis Dunk,” the former Gunners midfielder said during an appearance on Talksport, per the Express. “Is it a gamble? £30million/£40million would Brighton take that I don’t know?
“I like the way he plays, I think he’s a proper centre-back. That’s what you need sometimes.
“Sol Campbell was a proper centre-back, he was a stopper. He would stop you scoring and that’s what you want from your centre-back, they don’t need to be great on the ball.
“Someone like Lewis Dunk, who probably is a little bit unlucky not to be more in the England squads.”
Parlour is the second pundit this week to call on Arsenal to try and sign Dunk. Former Tottenham player Jamie O’Hara has more or less said the same thing.