Paul Merson has accused Arsenal of a lack of class over preparing to sign Willian whilst announcing a round of redundancies.
Just days after netting £3.6million for winning the FA Cup, the Gunners announced that 55 jobs would be made redundant due to the impact of the coronavirus.
Yet Merson argues there is a jarring contrast between a club announcing redundancies whilst also preparing to sign a high-profile player from their London rivals.
Writing in the Daily Star, Merson said it would not have taken much to keep people in their job.
He said: "Willian would be an unbelievable signing for Arsenal but to do it while making redundancies shows a lack of class.
"Arsenal won’t be the only club laying people off this summer. You can’t keep everyone in a job if you have no fans coming into the ground.
"But it doesn’t sit right that they are trying to sign players on big money when they can’t keep all their staff in a job.
"Surely Arsenal have got the kind of money to do that - they’ve just won the FA Cup Final and qualified for Europe!
"Football can be ruthless sometimes. And clubs move on. I was there 14 years and they never ring me now to ask how I am. It’s just the way it is.
"But I think they are missing a trick here. It wouldn’t have hurt them to keep those people on. They could have shown some class and not done this."
He added: "Some of those people will not be on a lot of money, and it can’t be nice for them when they see their club offering someone like Willian £250,000-a-week.
"You have to remember as well, Arsenal didn’t blink giving £350,000-a-week to Mesut Ozil. They’re obviously going to get criticised.
"But there will be other clubs following suit. Some clubs in the lower leagues won’t be able to survive without fans coming to matches.
"Arsenal are obviously going to keep spending money this summer regardless because they want to give Mikel Arteta the best team they can."
