Charlie Nicholas has warned that a move for Willian could well impact the development of Arsenal's youngsters.
The Gunners are said to be leading the race for Brazilian winger Willian, who has yet to agree a deal to extend his contract at Chelsea, which expires this summer.
At 31, the Blues seem reluctant to offer Willian his desired three-year contract, but it has been said that the Gunners will meet his demands.
Whilst Gunners legend Nicholas can recognise Willian's qualities, he argued that his arrival could limit the amount of football Arsenal's young attacking talent could get.
Speaking to Off the Ball podcast, however, Nicholas said that the deal could be worthwhile if Mikel Arteta is plotting such an overhaul this summer that his squad numbers are low.
He said: "In terms of Willian, he’s a free agent so you can get him on the cheap.
"You give him a big salary and say: 'Right, are you good enough?'
"This guy is a quality player, I don’t deny that but his age…
"I look at people like Reiss Nelson, like Bukayo Saka that want to come into the team and do well and Gabriel Martinelli when he comes back will be a centre-forward so I don’t really see where the purchase makes sense to Arsenal.
"Willian as a free agent?
"Yeah, I can get one that because you want to build up a big squad and I expect Arsenal to offload maybe seven or eight players and it could be more."
