French striker Olivier Giroud will not be departing Arsenal for Borussia Dortmund in January. According to a reliable source in the English media, the Gunners forward is set to reject a move to Bundesliga in this winter transfer window. Recent reports have suggested that the French international might make a move to Peter Stöger’s side on loan as part of the potential transfer of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal.
However, it is believed that when Dortmund initially showed interest in securing the services of the 31-year-old forward on loan, the Gunners rejected their advances almost immediately and ruled out his departure from North London.
Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger confirmed earlier this month that the North London outfit has held talks with Dortmund over the possibility of signing Aubameyang and has sent out club officials to Germany to try and meet their Dortmund counterparts regarding a potential deal. Some sources have also claimed that the Gunners had an offer in excess of £50m rejected by Dortmund for Aubameyang. In an interview on Tuesday, Wenger addressed the possibility of a deal for the Gabonese forward and said, “You never know how close you are,”
“This is the kind of thing – he is one of the possible movements, but we have other things in mind as well. We have plenty of opportunities and the final decision is not made. At the moment we are not close to any deal, Aubameyang or anybody else.”
With talks still ongoing between the two clubs, it looks like Giroud won’t be leaving north London in favour of a switch to Bundesliga which will come as a big boost for the Gunners. The 31-year-old striker is currently out of action with a hamstring problem but has featured sporadically under Arsene Wenger this season. He has scored 7 goals in 25 matches with most of his appearances coming off the bench this term.
The French forward has a terrific record during his time at Arsenal where he has scored 105 goals and made 41 assists in 252 matches so far. The centre-forward is also the only target man that the club possesses at the moment so his potential departure this month will come as a huge blow in their pursuit of a top 4 place at the end of this season.
The Gunners are currently sitting in 6th place in the Premier League table, five points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool who occupies the final Champions League spot with 14 matches left. Wenger needs all the options at his disposal as he prepares his team to fight in three different competitions going into the second half of their campaign. It remains to be seen what lies ahead in the future of the French forward and whether he ends up leaving Arsenal this month in search of more first-team football.
