Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has hailed the Gunners for their acquisition of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid but believes that a striker was needed to provide cover for Olivier Giroud. The north London club have smashed their transfer record almost thrice over, eclipsing their previous record of £15m for Andrey Arshavin by paying close to £42.5m for the 24-year-old.

Mesut Ozil
Reuters

The Gunners were ostracised for their lack of transfer activity by the fans and media alike, but a deadline day swoop for Ozil and Emiliano Viviano has added some feasibility to Arsenal's summer. Parlour believes with the midfield that Arsenal already have, it will be a brilliant addition for the north London club who are looking to challenge for titles yet again.

"It is going to be exciting now with Jack Wilshere, [Santi] Cazorla, [Theo] Walcott, [Lukas] Podolski, when is he fit, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ozil now. The only problem I'm worried about is the forward line. Giroud was excellent at the weekend. I thought he played ever so well against Tottenham. He got the goal, really held the ball up well and he was a battering ram at times, but can he stay fit?" Parlour told talkSPORT.

"If he does get a niggle or get injured, then the next player that can play up there really is Walcott. Podolski is out for ten weeks. That's the only position [I was worried about]. If he [Giroud] does get injured, they are going to be a little bit light up top. That was one where I thought, they got in Ozil, fantastic, but could they get a striker in as well?" he added.

Meanwhile, Wojciech Szczesny has expressed his satisfaction at keeping a clean sheet against Tottenham in Arsenal's 1-0 win at the Emirates. The win takes the Gunners level on points with Tottenham, but ahead on goal difference.

"It is down to the desire of every single player to win every single ball. We were stronger in the tackles than they were, and Mathieu Flamini came in and did a fantastic job as well. I enjoyed it much more than a 5-2. I mean 5-2 has been very enjoyable for the last couple of years, but I will take 1-0 all day long. I have not kept a clean sheet in a north London derby before, so that was very important for me and it gave us the win here, so I am delighted," the Pole told www.arsenal.com.