Arsenal hero Martin Keown says legendary manager Arsene Wenger should be given a role leading the club.

Keown and his former Gunners teammate Ray Parlour believe Wenger's contribution to Arsenal should be immortalised with a statue outside the Emirates Stadium.

"Wenger was a visionary. He should be in the board room," Keown told the Daily Mail.

"The alternative is what he's got now - no official link to Arsenal Football Club when he should be sitting proudly in the board room.

"When I hear him talk, he still says 'us' and 'we'. Have Wenger on the board and put his expertise to use."

Keown and Parlour have called for a statue of Wenger to be built outside the stadium - saying the club might never have moved had it not been for the former manager.

"Before him, we finished 10th, fourth, 12th, fifth in the Premier League. Then we won three titles with him," Keown said.

Former midfielder Parlour added: "That's why he deserves a statue.

"He's the one who created the Emirates, if you like. He's the one who had that focus to say Highbury, as much as we all loved it, was not big enough."