Ex-Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has called for the club to snap newly-relegated West Ham midfielder Scott Parker.

Parker was a shining light for the Hammers in a disappointing season, claiming the FWA Footballer of the Year award despite playing for the Barclays Premier League's basement club.

Following West Ham's relegation to the English Championship, it has been suggested that Parker would not be content to play in England's second tier, sparking off interest in a number of top sides.

Arsenal and Tottenham are reported to be leading the chase for the tough-tackling England international, and former Gunner Parlour has implored his old side to snap up Parker.

"Scott Parker is going at West Ham, bring him in, he'd be excellent just in front of the back four and there's an opportunity to get him," Parlour told talkSPORT.

Parlour also suggested manager Arsene Wenger look to reinforce his defence, preferably with someone in the mould of Sol Campbell.

"They also need somebody at the back who can play centre-half, a real stopper like a Sol Campbell, who puts his body there and makes sure Arsenal doesn't concede goals.

"If they can get someone like that it would be excellent.

Clearly displeased with the present crop of Gunners, Parlour suggested signing a striker should also be a high priority, but believes the present squad is 'decent'.

"They also need a striker but they've got a decent squad and they'll have a chance [next season].

"Every Arsenal fan out there who is a little bit worried, don't panic just yet as there's a long way to go before the start of the season.

"I'm just hoping they can find that right player or right players to really push them to challenge Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool who will be strong next year."

Parker has already linked well with Arsenal young gun Jack Wilshere while on international duty with England and looks set to be a perfect fit in the Gunners midfield.

This is a summary of where I believe we have got to as we approach to opening of the transfer window.  I don’t claim much special knowledge – just a few friends on the inside and one or two remaining buddies in the world of journalism (who haven’t given up on me after my endless attacks on their current and my ex-trade).

Much still depends on the format we go to next season.  Is it 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, and how often might we move to 4-5-1, or even 4-4-1-1.

Those leaving

Almunia. All quiet on the Almunian front, and he might be involved in some sort of exchange deal with another player.

Cesc Fábregas will be allowed to leave for Barca on two conditions.  One is that Samir Nasri stays and two is that the offer gets closer to £40m.

Barca has a policy of selling young talent in order to raise desperately needed short term funding, and then offering to buy back the player as a star, with the gibberish talk of DNA.  (Cesc, like you, me and the rest of the population has 98% the same DNA as a monkey.)

Sandro Rosell (El Presidente) actually said in a televised press conference that the club were saving money to buy players by banning colour photocopying at the Camp Nou.    So presumably Fabregas will be paid for by Xerox just like Real Mad once paid for C Ronaldo by flogging shirts to Portugal.

He says, and I quote a decent translation, the club was seeking to avoid last year’s embarrassment when it failed to pay the players wages in June,  “By being austere, hard and losing friends. We are suffering with it. We removed the catering events, our bodyguards. And we have even stopped making photocopies in colour at the club. Now we do black and white and save on toner.”

Nice place to go Cesc, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

The BBC story about someone unnamed at the club saying “we’ll have to sell him” is just a fantasy, and it is sad to see the BBC reduced to such levels because of cuts in its funding by the Coalition Government.  I can understand the Conservative Party crippling the BBC – they see criticism of the government as the equivalence of being a traitor – but the Liberal Party ought to know better.  Amusing to see that our young friends in the AAA enjoyed it though.

Clichy - seems to have gone quiet but there was that extraordinarily low Liverpool bid.  Much depends on what happens with the shifting around of the defence, where Vermaelen plays, if Gibbs can stay fit, if Coquelin joins the first team and then where he plays, and what happens to Traore.

Denilson – no news at all and there is a feeling around his time has gone.

Rosicky - a sad recognition that he never regained his previous abilities after the year out with injury, so he has to move on.

Vela – this is a question mark.  Some people are saying, obviously he’s out after a moderate showing on loan despite a good start to the season.  But his agent is making big noises about him staying.  Which is not what agents normally do – normally they tout their players as available.

Nicklas Bendtner – seems like the guys who sit behind me in block 99 will get there wish.


Those staying and those coming in…

Samir Nasri will stay if the contract offer is improved.  The only problem with this is that it will make him better paid than Cesc, which is why the two players are linked.

Philip Nikodem Jagielka (born 17 August 1982 in Cheshire).  Can play central midfield, central defence.  Has even played in goal, but we are fairly flush with keepers – with Almunia gone I count five, including the new Argentine who was called up to their first team squad.  I should also add my pal Ian is on holiday in Florida and bumped into Seaman’s brother there with his family.  How about that!

Joined Everton in 2007 for £4m.  England international at under-21, B team and full international level.  Has had an anterior cruciate ligament injury and missed nearly a whole season.  Played 428 games scored 26 goals.

Ricardo Gabriel Álvarez , plays for Vélez Sársfield in Argentina.  The president of Palmero, Maurizio Zamparini, said recently “Alvarez has given us the slip and signed for Arsenal”, so it appears a deal may be close.  Or maybe the Palmero boss made that up to keep his fans happy.

Nicknamed “Ricky” (born April 12, 1988) he is a left-footed attacking midfielder.  Played his first professional game in 2008 but then injured his cruciate knee ligament. 


He played 15 games (13 as sub) during the Vélez 2010 campaign playing all across the midfield.  With the Argentine season just ending he has played to date 44 games and scored 5 goals in last two seasons.

Incidentally I want to deviate into Argentine football for a moment, in case you have missed the story.

River Plate has been relegated for the first time in their 111 year history, with the final game abandoned as spectators smashed up bits of the stadium.  They then turned on their own players, and did in the local area.  The Guardian said, “Psychiatrists have been looking at the impact the club’s relegation might have on the nation as millions of depressed workers try to deal with taunts from rival fans. Demand for antidepressants has soared, they say.”

Gervinho from the Ivory Coast is a striker. He plays for Lille who won the league and cup double in France last year with the player scoring 15 goals. If he does join the club, the 24-year-old, who played in last summer’s World Cup, is likely to cost around £12m.  An additional problem has been added to this transfer as Lille want St Etienne winger Payet, but Paris Saint-Germain also want him.  This is a problem because on 31 May 2011, PSG announced that Qatar Investment Authority bought a controlling 70% stake in the club and we all know what that means (see my earlier article on this.  Seems the under 12s section of Arsenal support haven’t quite got the fact of what is going on in France, and are blaming Arsenal for being slow.  Never mind guys, when you grow up you can read newspapers.  And blogs.

Timothy Filiga Cahill (born 6 December 1979) is an Australian international playing as an attacking midfielder or striker, and is the captain of Everton.  He has scored more world cup goals than any other Oz.  Made his  200th appearance for Everton last April and is on a four year contract with the club.  Got injured last season playing for his country in the Aisa Cup and played under 10 games. He is the  record holder for most headed goals in the Premier League (31).

Christopher Samba plays for Congo and Blackburn.  Born in France he played for Rouen and CS Sedan, before a poor period with Hertha Berlin, and then moving to Blackburn for half a million pounds in January 2007.  Plays in central defence but has turned up as a striker.

Signed a five-year contract in 2009, and this last season was captain until saying he wanted to go somewhere that played football rather than “park the team bus” (actually he may not have said that exactly, but it is something like that.)  He then signed a one-year contract extension on 2 February 2011.


Youth

Hard to say exactly who will make it but the talk is generally of Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Francis Coquelin, Henri Lansbury, and most of all Emmanuel Frimpong.  There’s always someone, but often it is a surprise just who it is.  I would refer you to our regular pieces on this.

There has been much talk about the Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger bringing in “maturity and experience” to the Emirates for next season, but the Rangers boss Ally McCoist has been rebuffed in his efforts to keep Kyle Bartley at Ibrox next season.

It seems that Wenger wants to bring Bartley back in the squad for Arsenal’s pre-season games, before making a decision on a new loan or not, although McCoist has made the enquiry personally.

“It would be great to have him back,” McCoist said. “I spoke to Arsene Wenger and Arsene wants to have a good look at Kyle in pre-season before he makes any decision on anything.

“I can totally understand his view. He is absolutely, 100 percent within his rights and I would do exactly the same. He doesn’t need to look at his players just now.”

Well considering that Arsenal already have the centre-backs Vermaelen, Djourou, Squillaci and Koscielny in the first team squad, with rumours that Gary Cahill and/or Christopher Samba are due to arrive. How could he possibly think that he may have room for Bartley in the pre-season games, never mind next season as well?

Unless of course he won’t be following up on Samba and Cahill……..