Arsenal face a season under the spotlight after Arsene Wenger’s recent contract extension.

The Gunners will be without Champions League football for the first time since the Frenchman’s arrival and the fight for a top four place has never been so competitive.

It certainly won’t be an easy task for Wenger to wrestle his way back into the European places. Both Manchester clubs have spent big, Chelsea are the reigning champions and Tottenham have arguably the finest starting XI.

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And, in this season of transition, the club have dabbled in the transfer market.

Alexandre Lacazette was snatched from Lyon for a club record fee of £46.5 million while Sead Kolasinac joined from Schalke.

Bids have also been lodged for Monaco starlets Kylian Mbappe and Thomas Lemar, a clear indicator of ambition. Arsenal are believed to be interested in the freshly available Julian Draxler too.

Moreover, although the Gunners started the season with victory, there is still room for improvement and thus ground on which to make more signings.

Who better to give an opinion on any further moves then, than a professional pundit who played at the club for 12 years? Step up, Paul Merson.

The 49-year-old has been a regular fixture on Soccer Saturday for over a decade now and is loved for his somewhat left-field pronunciations. That’s not to mention the fact he was on hand to report Sergio Aguero’s famous title winning goal in 2012.

He is, however, subject to the odd mistake and bizarre prediction.

This is the pundit who admitted he hadn’t even heard of Tottenham’s new signing and shrugged off an SPL prediction on grounds of ignorance, after all.

That considered, check out his recommendation for Arsenal’s remaining summer activity:

Are you feeling ok, Paul?

Gareth Barry brought an end to his three-year Everton spell with a move to West Bromwhich Albion this week. The Englishman had become starved of game time on Merseyside and is chasing the Premier League appearance record.

Yet Merson believes Arsenal should have thrown their hat in the ring, too.

There can be no denying that Barry was a superb player in his prime but it’s hard to see the answer to Arsenal’s midfield issues coming in the form of a 36-year-old veteran.

And while Merson only cited a year, the proposition doesn’t seem any less ridiculous. Twitter is equally bemused and have been swift to roast the ex-Arsenal man for his bizarre punditry again.

Here are the pick of the tweets:

Who do you think Arsenal should target before deadline day? Let us know by leaving a comment below.