Arsenal should not be a 'selling club,' claims Shay Given... as he labels struggling Crystal Palace boss Frank de Boer a 'strange appointment'

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Arsenal are a massive club who should not be selling their best players, former Newcastle and Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given has claimed.

Arsene Wenger saw 13 players leave the club over the summer, with Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac their only new recruits. 

They lost Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to West Brom and Liverpool, respectively, and were on the brink of selling Alexis Sanchez to City before pulling the plug on the deal on deadline day.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger signed only two players and let 13 go this summer window

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined the Gunners' rivals Liverpool for £35million on Thursday

Left-back Kieran Gibbs sealed a £7m switch to West Brom from Arsenal this summer

In total, despite their disappointing start to the season, Wenger's side spent less (£53m) than every Premier League club bar Swansea this summer. And Given believes their recent transfer dealings are not befitting of a club of Arsenal's stature.

'I don't think Arsenal should be a selling club. Arsenal is a huge football club in the Premier League and they should be signing players in this last week of the window,' he told the BBC. 

'Wenger has come under pressure the last couple of seasons. The two FA Cup (wins in 2017 and 2015) have papered over the cracks and, because of such a poor start to the season, the fans are getting restless again. They're selling some of their best players and it's going to be a difficult season again for Arsenal.'

Wenger is under increasing scrutiny following two defeats in his side's first three league games of the season.

Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer is under pressure after losing his first three matches

Former Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given said the Dutchman was a 'strange appointment'

His counterpart from London rivals Crystal Palace, Frank de Boer, has also enjoyed a tough start to the campaign. The Dutchman, who was sacked by Inter Milan after only 85 days in charge last year, is already fighting for his job after three consecutive defeats.

Given believes the disparity in preferred playing styles between De Boer and his predecessor Sam Allardyce made the Dutchman an unusual candidate for the job. But the former Newcastle keeper believes De Boer, like Allardyce, deserves time to try and turn the club's fortunes around.

'It was a bit of a strange appointment in the first place because of Sam Allardyce, the physicality of his teams and the way they played set plays and were maybe a bit more direct,' Given said.

Sam Allardyce took time to turn Palace around and Given believes De Boer deserves patience

'Frank has come in obviously with the Johan Cruyff mentality from Ajax and they want to play more football, play through the different lines.

'If you asked every fan how do you want to play? You would love to play some sexy football, or whatever you want to call it, from Holland. But it's going to take some time.

'The only thing I would say about De Boer is, when Allardyce came in last year they really struggled for the first five or six weeks. The results weren't turned round straight away so fans can a bit patient perhaps and he can get his message across to the team.'