Rio Ferdinand: Arsenal must line up Haller if their bid for Vlahovic fails

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta should be on alert to give prolific Ajax striker Sebastien Haller a second Premier League chance if the Gunners fail to land Dusan Vlahovic, Rio Ferdinand has argued.

Ivory Coast forward Haller failed in the Premier League after joining West Ham for £45million from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019, scoring just three top-flight goals in 17 appearances in his second season before joining the Dutch giants for a cut-price £22million.

The 27-year-old has had a spectacular season so far and is the surprise top scorer in the Champions League, scoring ten times in six games to fire Ajax to a perfect qualification for the knockout stage.

The centre-forward has one goal more in the competition than Bayern goal machine Robert Lewandowski and is three clear of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, helped by a haul against Sporting Lisbon that made him only the second player to score four goals on their Champions League debut after Netherlands legend Marco van Basten.

Haller has also scored 12 times in 17 Eredivisie matches to attract the attention of clubs across Europe – and former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand believes he would succeed at Arsenal.

Ferdinand responded to a suggestion that Arteta's ideal targets are Brentford hotshot Ivan Toney and Roma forward Tammy Abraham by telling FIVE: 'I reckon Haller would be good for you lot.'

Speaking to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Ferdinand also appeared to acknowledge that Arsenal are chasing highly-rated Swedish striker Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad.

Arteta is pursuing Serie A top scorer Vlahovic and would prefer to land the Fiorentina forward during the January transfer window.

Fiorentina have suggested they are open to offers and publicly pressed Vlahovic to decide his future, with the 21-year-old's contract expiring in June 2023.

Haller is currently with the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations, where he was substituted during their opening 1-0 win against Equitorial Guinea in Douala on Wednesday.

The former Auxerre and Utrecht frontman signed a four-year deal when he joined Ajax in January 2021.

That move came a month after Haller scored a rare top-flight goal for the Hammers – an overhead kick against Crystal Palace that won the Premier League Goal of the Month award.