Exclusive - Ray Parlour: Arsenal don't need David Villa to reach top-four

Ray Parlour claims Arsenal don’t need David Villa to secure fourth place in the Premier League.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger distanced the north London club from a swoop for the Spain starlet, claiming: “Barcelona don’t want to sell, they’ve made that clear.”

And former Highbury midfielder Parlour insists the squad is good enough to land a Champions League place – even without any reinforcements.

“I really thought he might go and strengthen, at least bring in one player in, but it appears David Villa didn’t want to come to Arsenal," he told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show.

“I’m sure the scouting system is working hard to find players for Arsene Wenger, but nothing has fit the bill.

“It looks like he’s not going to buy anyone at the moment and he’ll have to go until the end of the season with the squad he's got.

"If Olivier Giroud can bang a few goals in then he can fire them into fourth place."