Alan Pardew has admitted that he’s not surprised that Arsenal are rumoured to be interested in midfielder, James McArthur.

The Crystal Palace manager has spoken up about the apparent link, which I hadn’t heard much about until now.

“I always admired him at Wigan Athletic, and it’s not a surprise to me he’s been linked to a top club,” the former Newcastle manager said.

“He plays international football for Scotland and he plays a very high level of football for us, so it’s not a testament to Palace, it’s more a testament to James. He’s a great team player.”

Obviously the manager is going to praise his player – it’d be somewhat bizarre, even by Pardew’s standards, to say the man isn’t good enough. Whether Pardew genuinely thinks Arsenal want McArthur is another issue entirely.

The 28-year-old has featured a lot for Eagles and this season has scored two goals and assisted the same amount but time isn’t on his side. For this reason, I highly doubt us being interested in him. Although we do have our fair share of injuries in midfield, I don’t think he’s the answer somehow.

Who knows? Perhaps Wenger is about to throw in a curve ball and snap up the Scotsman but at this point in time, I don’t see it happening.