Morgan Schneiderlin and Petr Cech would make a difference for Arsenal says Alan Smith

Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech would make a real difference to Arsenal and the club should be prepared to break the bank to sign the duo, according to former Gunners forward Alan Smith.

Schneiderlin has been heavily linked with a move to north London while Cech's future with the Premier League champions is uncertain after making just six top flight starts for the club this season.

After finishing third in the league, qualifying automatically for the Champions League and retaining the FA Cup, Arsenal are being urged to build on their improvement in this summer's transfer window and Smith believes the pair could make a significant impact.

"You could buy Petr Cech for £10m, which isn't big in terms of the fee," he told Sky Sports.

"You can buy players that can make a difference, like Morgan Schneiderlin, who is available for £25m. That's not a big fee for Arsenal these days, when you look at how much they paid for Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

"I think he is trying to dip into the transfer market but it's the positions that he is going to try and recruit that will be interesting."

After years of frugal spending following the club's move to The Emirates Stadium, the marque additions of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid and Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona represent a new era for Arsenal in the transfer window.

Despite being open to making additions during the summer, Wenger admits that the club will not be competing with the biggest spenders around Europe but intends to leave his own mark on the transfer window.

"We have not spent that kind of money. People forget that for years we had to sell our best players and that was a very difficult period. That is the reality," Wenger said.

"Since we started to buy again, we have slowly come back to a more competitive level. But you speak maybe about stratospheric numbers where we will not be involved.

"Not at that level. For financial reasons. It's simple. I do not want to tell you how much money we have. But I have not made a clear decision yet for what I will do.

"Don't rule anything out and I will not tell you as well how much money we will spend. But I'm always more focused on quality.

"I want a good rapport between price and quality. Santi Cazorla was voted man of the match in the FA Cup final. I don't think he cost £150m. Francis Coquelin was one of the best players on the pitch.

"I am not against spending money. I have shown that recently."