Emmanuel Petit has urged Arsenal to ‘make an offer’ for Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and rated the Gunners’ chances of winning the Premier League this season.
Arsenal spent more than £100m last summer to bring the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira to the Emirates.
The spending appears to have paid off, with Mikel Arteta’s side making a strong start to the Premier League season, winning five of their first six games to emerge as the early leaders.
Petit says Arsenal are showing more character than in years gone by but insists they will need to improve their record against ‘top teams’ to maintain a title challenge.
‘Right now, Arsenal are first in the league so I would say they are genuine title contenders,’ the former Gunners midfielder told .
‘They have improved over the last few seasons, but they still need to improve against the top teams. They need to learn to convincingly beat top teams.
‘We’re seeing things in this Arsenal squad that we haven’t seen before. Maturity, character and personality and so for them to be able to beat the best teams in the division is the last stop for Arsenal.’
While Arsenal bolstered Arteta’s squad with several signings over the summer, the Gunners were also linked with moves for Arthur Melo, Douglas Luiz and Youri Tielemans.
Petit has highlighted another player Arsenal should target ahead of the January transfer window, revealing his admiration for Brighton star Mac Allister.
The Argentine midfielder has enjoyed a superb start to the season, scoring four goals in six games for in-form Brighton, who are currently fourth in the Premier League.
‘Not signing Arthur Melo isn’t a big miss for Arsenal,’ Petit added. ‘But I know they were looking for that link between the midfield and striker.
‘If I were [Arsenal technical director] Edu, I’d make an offer for Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton – I really like him.’
Arsenal kick-started their Europa League campaign with a 2-1 win over Zurich in Switzerland on Thursday night.
The Gunners could face Premier League rivals Manchester United in the competition and Petit said: ‘Arsenal know that the Europa League is very important for them because the winner qualifies for the Champions League.
‘I think Arsenal will take the competition very seriously and I’m pretty sure that both Arsenal and Man United will reach the semi-finals.
‘If they both meet in the final [of the Europa League], I’m a Gooner so I back Arsenal to win. Since Mikel Arteta came to the club they have improved a lot and I have been very impressed.’
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