Parlour: Arsenal Should Swap Strikers with Manchester City

Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour feels the club should swap want-away striker Robin van Persie for Manchester City's Edin Dzeko.

The Dutchman, who has less than a year left on his contract, recently announced he would not sign a new deal with the Gunners, with the Premier League champions understood to be leading the race for his signature amidst competition from rivals Manchester United and Serie A winners Juventus.

The 28 year old was reportedly spotted house-hunting in the millionaires' village of Hale, near Altrincham in Greater Manchester, earlier this week, before going on holiday, in perhaps the clearest indication he has his heart set on a move to one of the Manchester clubs. Parlour says if van Persie decides to move to City, then Arsenal must push for a player-exchange deal.

"I don't know what Arsenal will look at, but if [van Persie] does want to go to Manchester City then maybe they could look at a swap deal with someone like Dzeko and bring him in. His wages might be a problem. I don't know what kind of wages Dzeko is on at Manchester City and Arsenal have always had that pay structure that they want to keep to and maybe they have to change that. Times are moving on and if you want the best players they go for the best money," ESPN quoted Parlour as saying.

Dzeko has been linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium this summer, after failing to earn a regular first-team spot last season. However, City boss Roberto Mancini recently revealed he had no plans to sell the Bosnian or his fellow forward Carlos Tevez.

"Both Dzeko and Tevez will stay at City. We are a great team and we try to keep all our great players. It won't be easy but they will stay here. We still lack a couple of players to reach [the level of] Real Madrid and Barcelona. Also our mentality has to grow season by season," Goal.com quoted the Italian as saying.

However, despite that claim, the prospect of having top target and last season's top scorer van Persie in his ranks for City's title defence could make the final call on Dzeko a different one for Mancini.