If Olivier Giroud’s Arsenal career needs to be defined there will be various opinions. The French man has been spearheading the Arsenal attack for most of the time as we often have seen him rescuing his side by scoring a late winner or an injury time equalizer.
The French forward is very popular amongst the Gunners supporter and has played a crucial role in Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph last season. The forward has put pen to paper on a new contract but despite his extension, he has been attracting interests from a number of clubs with Everton being at the fore front.
The Merseyside club have already brought in two forwards in Wayne Rooney and Sandro Ramirez but gaffer Ronald Koeman has underlined the need of a proper no. 9 ahead of a hectic season.
Giroud could be a shrewd business for the Merseyside club who have so far had a pretty exciting transfer window. New owner Farhad Moshiri has launched a fresh campaign to build on the success of the last season and has handed Koeman a squad capable of challenging for the Premier League title.
Everton’s stance in Giroud remains the same and Koeman might raid the Emirates Stadium again for the services of the talisman forward. But the French forward has already made his intentions clear he wants to stay at the club and that he will fight for a place in the starting lineup at the Emirates this season.
The addition of Alexandre Lacazette should also work as a catalyst for Giroud who has been aiming to cement a place in the World Cup squad which is scheduled for next year. Wenger preferred to start Alexis Sanchez in a more centrally role ignoring the Frenchman and Sanchez’s performance has been very satisfying for the French gaffer.
But Giroud has a very specified role in the Gunners side. The 30-year-old is not guaranteed a starting place but can make amends as an impact substitute, something he did well last season.
Added to that, both Lacazette and Giroud offer various dimension to the attack. Lacazette’s main strength is raw pace and skill as he loves to take on the defenders while Giroud’s link up play could prove to be very handy next season.
With the addition of Sead Kolasinac to the team, Giroud’s effect is bound to be increased next season. At Everton Koeman already has Rooney, Sandro, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Oumar Niasse at its disposal so Wenger needs to make sure the big French remains at the Emirates for at least another season.
