Arsenal legend Paul Merson believes his former club should recruit Brendan Rodgers as their new manager following their struggles under Unai Emery this term. The north London giants are currently nine points adrift of the top four of the Premier League and they recently suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Rodgers’ Leicester City.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Merson said that Rodgers is presently one of the best managers in the business and the Gunners should pay big in order to lure him from the Foxes, he told: “I think he’s (Rodgers) one of the best in the business. If I was Arsenal, I would have been ringing Leicester up and saying, “how much do you want?”If you’re going to pay £72 million for a winger (Pepe) that hasn’t played in the Premier League and has played in the French league, I would pay £40m for him tomorrow morning.”

Rodgers was initially linked with the Gunners job after the departure of Arsene Wenger in the summer of 2018 but the Northern Irishman distanced himself from the position while stating his commitment towards Celtic. However, he made the surprise move to Leicester City during the backend of the previous campaign and over a period of nine months, he has transformed them into genuine top-four contenders.

As a result, he should not be tempted to switch clubs, if the Gunners make the approach but crazier things have happened in football. The Foxes are second in the Premier League standings after a superb start to the campaign and they are already nine points ahead of the teams outside of the Champions League spots. Still, they should not get carried away with the bright beginning and the fans will be hoping that they can sustain the form during the congested festive schedule.