Former England international Danny Mills has slammed Arsenal’s embarrassing offer to land the signature of Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace. The Ivorian has been earmarked as the prime transfer target for the Gunners this summer but so far, they have failed with an opening bid of around £40m for the winger.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Mills deemed the transfer proposal as embarrassing, considering Palace recently sold Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United for £50m, he said:“It’s laughable. £40million, it’s embarrassing, ridiculous, I don’t understand it. Crystal Palace’s £100million valuation is hardly realistic, but you have to get somewhere close. With an opening bid, they could have gone in a bit cheeky with, say, £60million.

“To go in with £40million doesn’t say to the player, ‘we really want you’. It says, ‘we like you but not enough to pay what you’re worth’. It’s poor, especially after Aaron Wan-Bissaka has just been sold for over £50million. Even if Wan-Bissaka’s true value is £30-35million, £40million for Zaha is embarrassing. You’re not going to get him for that.”

Zaha has been pivotal to the Eagles’ Premier League status over the past few years and reports have emerged that they want a package of around £80m to sanction the attacker’s sale. At present, the Gunners may not be able to afford the sum with a restricted £45m budget but they are suggestions that they may propose a player-plus-cash deal alongside staggered payments.

The north London giants have been fairly quiet during the opening half of the summer transfer window and they have landed just Gabriel Martinelli from Ituano. The 18-year-old has been highly-rated in Brazil but it remains to be seen whether he can get a direct entry to the first-team squad. Elsewhere, the club have been in negotiations for Celtic’s Kieran Tierney over the past few weeks without much success.