Robert Pires has launched a charm offensive in a bid to tempt Victor Wanyama into joining Arsenal.

Wanyama submitted a tranfser request amid interest from Tottenham during the summer and is not thought to feature on Arsene Wenger's shortlist as he seeks midfielders in the midst of an injury crisis.

Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta are among seven Gunners stars receiving treatment and Pires believes a move for Wanyama would represent good business, tipping the Kenya international to achieve world-class status.

“I know Wanyama,’ he told Kenyan journalists in Nairobi.

“He is a very good ambassador of Kenyan football and has done well in Southampton but I hope he signs for Arsenal in the future.

Arsenal vs Sunderland - player ratings 14 show all Arsenal vs Sunderland - player ratings 1/14 Petr Cech 8 A superb performance from Arsenal's goalkeeper. Cech made an early crucial save to deny Borini after Arsenal were caught on the counter, and then two more in the second half which saved the blushes of the Gunners' defence. 2/14 Hector Bellerin 4 Struggled with the pace of Watmore on the right and allowed the forward to get past him several times to set up Sunderland chances before nearly seeing Van Aanholt get ahead of him and go for goal. Not the best of days for the full-back. 3/14 Per Mertesacker 7 Was called into action several times to make up for Koscielny and Bellerin's struggles in defence, and did well to clear the danger to protect Cech. 4/14 Laurent Koscielny 5 Returned to the starting line-up after recovering from injury and was caught out a few times early on after coming out to try and intercept the ball. He then gave away a needless free kick that led to Sunderland's goal. 5/14 Nacho Monreal 6 Appeared shaky when trying to clear his lines early on, and was saved by Cech in the second half when he allowed Fletcher to get ahead him. But he did well getting forwards and contributing to Arsenal's attacking play, particularly for Giroud's goal. 6/14 Mathieu Flamini: 6 After a nervy start in which Sunderland had the better of possession in the middle of the park, Flamini did a good enough job protecting the defence and allowing Ramsey to get forwards. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) 7/14 Aaron Ramsey: 8 Was handed his chance to impress in his favoured central position and he didn't disappoint. After going for goal a few times early on, Ramsey then started the move that led to Arsenal's opener before setting up Giroud for the winner. Was then rewarded for the numerous chances he carved out for himself with his late goal. 8/14 Joel Campbell: 8 Started on the right in place of Ramsey, who was shifted centrally, but was forced to swap to the left early on and the move paid off when the Costa Rica international coolly opened the scoring in the 34th minute. 9/14 Mesut Ozil: 7 Set up Campbell for his goal with a lovely through-ball for the striker, and enjoyed a good game as he linked up well with his teammates and created chances. 10/14 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 5 Started the game on the left flank but was ordered to switch sides with Campbell in the first half. However, he continued to have little impact on proceedings. 11/14 Olivier Giroud: 7 Helped contribute to Arsenal's opener with some nice link-up play, but let himself down when, under little pressure, he drove the ball into his own net. However, he made up for his mistake by heading in the second and should have scored his second minutes later. 12/14 Theo Walcott 6 Was brought on in the 63rd minute for Oxlade-Chamberlain and had a few chances at goal although he didn't have enough time to really make an impact. 13/14 Kieran Gibbs 5 Came on for Campbell and did a good enough job protecting the defence as Arsenal tried to protect their lead. 14/14 Calum Chambers 6 Was substituted for Giroud with 11 minutes to go and it was his deflected shot that Ramsey fired in to get Arsenal's third. 1/14 Petr Cech 8 A superb performance from Arsenal's goalkeeper. Cech made an early crucial save to deny Borini after Arsenal were caught on the counter, and then two more in the second half which saved the blushes of the Gunners' defence. 2/14 Hector Bellerin 4 Struggled with the pace of Watmore on the right and allowed the forward to get past him several times to set up Sunderland chances before nearly seeing Van Aanholt get ahead of him and go for goal. Not the best of days for the full-back. 3/14 Per Mertesacker 7 Was called into action several times to make up for Koscielny and Bellerin's struggles in defence, and did well to clear the danger to protect Cech. 4/14 Laurent Koscielny 5 Returned to the starting line-up after recovering from injury and was caught out a few times early on after coming out to try and intercept the ball. He then gave away a needless free kick that led to Sunderland's goal. 5/14 Nacho Monreal 6 Appeared shaky when trying to clear his lines early on, and was saved by Cech in the second half when he allowed Fletcher to get ahead him. But he did well getting forwards and contributing to Arsenal's attacking play, particularly for Giroud's goal. 6/14 Mathieu Flamini: 6 After a nervy start in which Sunderland had the better of possession in the middle of the park, Flamini did a good enough job protecting the defence and allowing Ramsey to get forwards. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) 7/14 Aaron Ramsey: 8 Was handed his chance to impress in his favoured central position and he didn't disappoint. After going for goal a few times early on, Ramsey then started the move that led to Arsenal's opener before setting up Giroud for the winner. Was then rewarded for the numerous chances he carved out for himself with his late goal. 8/14 Joel Campbell: 8 Started on the right in place of Ramsey, who was shifted centrally, but was forced to swap to the left early on and the move paid off when the Costa Rica international coolly opened the scoring in the 34th minute. 9/14 Mesut Ozil: 7 Set up Campbell for his goal with a lovely through-ball for the striker, and enjoyed a good game as he linked up well with his teammates and created chances. 10/14 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 5 Started the game on the left flank but was ordered to switch sides with Campbell in the first half. However, he continued to have little impact on proceedings. 11/14 Olivier Giroud: 7 Helped contribute to Arsenal's opener with some nice link-up play, but let himself down when, under little pressure, he drove the ball into his own net. However, he made up for his mistake by heading in the second and should have scored his second minutes later. 12/14 Theo Walcott 6 Was brought on in the 63rd minute for Oxlade-Chamberlain and had a few chances at goal although he didn't have enough time to really make an impact. 13/14 Kieran Gibbs 5 Came on for Campbell and did a good enough job protecting the defence as Arsenal tried to protect their lead. 14/14 Calum Chambers 6 Was substituted for Giroud with 11 minutes to go and it was his deflected shot that Ramsey fired in to get Arsenal's third.

"He has the speed, skill and physique.

“However, I think he needs to score more goals because then he will be world-class material.”

It comes after Arsenal target Adrien Rabiot revealed he has requested a loan move away from PSG in January as he seeks more game time.