Ian Wright: Defoe is the perfect replacement for Van Persie at Arsenal

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright believes Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe is the perfect man to replace Robin van Persie at the Emirates Stadium.

The Dutchman departed the Gunners this summer for Manchester United in a £24 million deal and his old club has subsequently failed to find the net in either of their opening two fixtures.

And Wright, an Arsenal legend, has suggested Arsene Wenger look no further than rivals Tottenham for Van Persie’s replacement - despite the outlay for strikers Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud.

Wright told The Sun: “If I was Arsene Wenger, I would make an audacious bid for Defoe, whose face doesn’t seem to fit at Spurs and who looks up for a move.

“Defoe would be the perfect replacement for Robin van Persie, the penalty box predator to finish off all those half-chances which are currently going begging.

“Two games and no goals show where Arsenal’s problems lie and there are few better finishers around than Jermain Defoe.”

Wright acknowledged that Giroud and Podolski would need time to become accustomed to the Premier League but warned Arsenal could do without a similarly disastrous start to this season as they endured this time last year.

“I’m sure Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud will get goals for the Gunners once they have picked up the pace of the Premier League,” he added.

“But Arsenal cannot afford another dodgy start to a campaign after playing catch-up for all of last season.”

And despite enjoying an excellent defensive start to the season with two clean sheets, Wright insists Arsenal also need to secure a central midfielder to replace the recently departed Alex Song.

He concluded: “The good news is Arsenal seem a little more solid at the back since Steve Bould was promoted to Arsene’s No.2 and they should be OK once Laurent Koscielny is back alongside Thomas Vermaelen.

“But they could do with another central midfielder after selling Alex Song to Barcelona and I could see Newcastle’s Yohan Cabaye fitting in very nicely.”