Arsenal are keeping a close eye on Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud, according to club scout Gilles Grimandi.
The 25-year-old Montpellier striker, who has bagged 15 goals in 20 games this season, is one of several possible summer targets being tracked by the Gunners ahead of possible transfer action this summer.
Confirming that Arsene Wenger’s team are monitoring a host of targets in Europe and South America Grimandi told French website Le 10 Sport:
“We look at a lot of interesting players, and we are following Giroud.
“We’re following his progress, it’s impossible not to look at the way he’s progressed in the last two years.
“Now we must try to assess the scope for improvement. I think he has the potential for the best clubs in Europe.
“That’s one of the players that we’re currently looking at, but there’s also between 20-30 other players from Europe and South America that we’re keeping an eye on.”
Thanks to @BenMossIBT of The International Business Times for the heads up.
20-30 targets? Why not buy some then?!???
We won’t because Europe is bankrupt.
This is also true and would influence clubs decisions to raise the value of their players to combat the lack of money around, thus making some unrealistic
If Europe is bankrupt, it is surly a buyer’s market. try think about it!!!!
If clubs don’t want to go bankrupt, why would they give low prices? They are businesses whether you like it or not, so funding and investment are key to staying afloat
If I give Arsene a football manager game, he would still find way to avoid signing top players and instead he would be building a team with mental strength falling short.
phew…poor Pascal Cygan….surely that discussion keeps him on his toes…
Why would anyone give a thumb down for kunzeboom’s post, I have no idea.
The clubs have to say yes
The players have to say yes
The players value can’t be too far above market value as we as a club can’t afford to many flops at an inflated price (we can’t afford to pay for the Veron, Carrol, Torres, etc… fuck-ups of this world)
The player could be going through a purple patch and then drop off by the end of the season
and
The transfer window is closed and won’t open until the summer
good list and valid point
AKB
Yes, it only happens to Arsenal ONLY, other teams never have such a difficulty in signing any player. I wish we find it difficult selling our good players as we find it difficult buying good players. Stop finding excuses, we lost all those signing for two reasons, we want to do it in the cheap to rip off other small teams or put a low value of the players REAL market value to avoid signing. As a result of that our talented teens fill the gap and we put great pressure on their young shoulders to preform like seasoned players.… Read more »
They are not excuses but how transfers actually work. It’s not all ‘Football Manager’ bid > bid accepted > talk to player > player accepts > no worries about money as i’ll just sell this player, this player, release this player, increase wages available….
Now quiet or i’ll get you put back in the sock
Keep living in your own Arsene knows world, at least you are happy while being blinkered.
Gilles Grimandi just opened the gates to Chelsea, Man City, Spurs etc re that young man. the premise is : If Arsenal is interested in any player then he must be good. Or it could all be a curve ball… smoking mirrors… I personally think we are going Polish/German this summer… not French. Also we must remember we have Campbell to return.
isn’t this tapping up? disgraceful.
Club mostly leaking targets to ensure ST renewals
Are you saying Giroud doesn’t know that if you score 15 in 20 games Europes top clubs will keep an eye on you?
Ok. Imagine Barca saying “we are keeping an eye on RVP” because he has scored 23 goals to the media. It would rile me up for sure.
Keeping an eye on him and telling to the world that “we are keeping an eye on him” are two different things
How is this tapping up??? Did anyone said he wants to come and play here. Yes players should refrain after talking about getting other players but this aint that. We dont go out and say like that cunt arry i like this guy i have spoken to the chairman to buy him without discussing with the players club and i dont even wanna start on Barca. This guy comes with good scoring record so natuarally he is being eyed my some clubs same with Rvp. more than 4 months for another window to open up when one just went by… Read more »
It’s not tapping up , he is scout , all they do is watch other teams’ players . that’s their job and it legal and ok. If Wenger did it it be wrong
abhijit absolutely agree with u.
why are they so sluggish to get players? I heard about Arsenal were interested in him months ago , this just proves it . and they won’t make a move until 31st August , this sucks and it’s not just Wenger ,it’s the whole Arsenal setup . It takes a team to be this crappy
this happened with Mata too , we basically scouting for other teams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-pAvB5snKE
Do you think Arsenal are trying to bankrupt other clubs or make it difficult for them to reach the FFP regulations by getting them to overspend on these players?
that’s much too far-fetched
just because the mirror say we are interested in a player it doesn’t make it fact. if we’d bought an eighth of the players we’d been linked to over the past couple of years we’d have a bigger squad than man city. also, half the players we are linked with have just had their agent bigging them up to secure a transfer to another team. when did wenger ever say he was going to sign mata? he’s not harry redknapp, he doesn’t say he’s interested in a player just because he can stand up and kick a ball at the… Read more »
Not fussed about any transfer news now. Lets get behind the players we have got now and try and get to some champions league spot. On saying that a trophy on the way wouldnt be bad.
Here we go again…..
Tomorrows news: Spurs linked with Giroud
Depends how much money ‘Arry has in his Monaco bank account….
‘Arry cant spend it anyway…gotta get his dogs counter signature.
20-30? Maybe we will get a whole new squad for next season! The inter toto cup won’t know what’s hit it!
Especially as it doesn’t exist anymore….. Unless we are going to take 30 players to ransack S.C. Braga
As much as I would like this transfer to happen, talking about other team’s players like this is out of order. We all moaned when Barca did the same with Henry and Fab, time to take the higher ground and leave this kind of thing out.
As I said above, do you think the guy doesn’t know that clubs are watching him? How is it tapping up to say we’re watching him and many others? If Barca said they were watching RVP we’d think yes we expect it, he’s a top player.
the club or any of our staff havent talk to or about giroud in the media .
just a scout who has watch a player and someone (if its true) at the club or someone who saw grimandi watching montpellier told a newspaper .Wtf people have no idea whats tapping up
I bet the interviewer asked something like “are you scouting Olivier Giroud?”
If this is the case the “story” a non event really as its just a standard response.
another striker from french league, last one we got has gone really well lol!
That’s a bit harsh, Gervinho hasn’t done too badly
I believe Scott refers to our mysterious Korean 🙂
smh i thought he was referring to chamakh! gervinho is a winger after all
20 to 30 players?! Heh
You sound surprised. Don’t know about football eh? Really surprising that football clubs watch potential targets, really surprising.
Replacement for RVP?
Yup, sell for 35/40 mill and spend 3/5 million, raise the season ticket prices and lose it on paying our teens and flops 40 to 80K a week to fill the squad with players we can’t get rid off.
What’s the point, let’s leave it until the window opens again, my head can’t take all this will we won’t we only to end up with fuck all.
Buy time the window opens we could be out of cl and without rvp and the ” top top talent ” that arsenes insists he only buys won’t want to come here anyway.
Top top talent, that still makes me chuckle.
20 to 30 players eh. Let’s hope their secondary schools release then then.
You know we have 75 under 21 players on good wages in our book, so 20/30 is not going to hurt that much, the sell of RVP will cover their wages just like the money of Fab and Le cunt covered it this year and Adewhore and Kolo money covered it before!!!!!!!!!!
I’m worn out, don’t think I can’t be fucked to get excited or disappointed by anything Arsenal related at the moment, unless it involves Kronke selling his shares to a decent owner.
I went to the Emirates Stadium Legends tour yesterday, was very good, met Lee Dixon. The worrying bit was his analysis and point of view on the current board and wenger. Everyone was asking him about Wenger, board, Wallcot etc etc (and Stan – yes the new owner). as much as i would have loved to see some optimisim from him, it was all doom and gloom. According to him David Deans departure has been the biggest loss for the club, which i couldnt agree more. and he said wenger only has couple of more years prob ( in his… Read more »
bullshit
another bullshit story.enjoy your bin bag
Next thing you know, you’ll be telling us Chamakh will be our top scorer this season and we’ll actually sign all 20-30 players in the summer. Move along my friend, exaggeration isn’t all that bad as long as you do it properly. If you did really go for the tour, then it`s great you enjoyed it. I found it quite good myself a few years ago…time well spent. Despite everything going pear shaped on the field and the transfer window sagas, just spending some time at the heart of the club with some of the legends of this great club… Read more »
Go Get Higuain!!!!!!!!! Go get Alvaro Negredo!!!!!! Go Get Lucas Podolski!!!!!
I’m with Midfield Corporal, I’ve become completely apathetic towards any rumours. Bring on April.
The sad thing is if we have a good win against Blackburn we’ll be thinking what might be again.
We’re like Don Corleon in Godfather 3- ‘Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in again’
Is there any reason why we can’t do the ‘Football Manager’ trick? Add managers > select the rich clubs > sell our shittest players for their maximum available transfer funds > retire from football…. It’s a thought
City could probably give it a shot 😛
Very soon Wenger will go for wc players from the Cornwall village team .Don’t be surprised he will tap the Faroe Islands too. There are wc players scoring goals for fun which is what he llikes. The only problem is the top scorers in these two teams will freeze in the epl. We have got many examples of these players from Spain/mexico/france. The problem is these guys are used to a slower pace of life and soccer It’s a culture shock and will get them at least a year to adjust.Pires himself said english is a street fight. Robust tackles… Read more »
All blaming wenger right now but it will be the same people who will go like ” Oh Wenger is a genius! Greatest men alive! We will always behind you!” when Arsenal again shoot back. What I wanna say is that trust the guy and be as one and not go like ” Wenger is a twat or, I can manage better than him” and more shit. WENGER KNOWS BETTER THAN YOU.
I’ve always been supportive of Arsene but you have to be a realist and recognise that our decline has been steady over the past 4 yrs. You can’t keep selling quality and shopping for bargain bin replacements when your competitors aren’t doing the same. Nearly 1 year on from the darling cup, it be interested to see how many points we’ve accrued. Respect him as I do, Arsene has to accept his share of the blame for our situation. It is his decision not to strengthen and it is his decision to keep playing the same individuals to the point… Read more »
All can see where Arsene lost it, he is too big headed stubborn individual refusing to move with time, he has no concept time has change and it is now your first 25 and not 11 that wins you trophies and titles.
He has not even change his backroom staff to points to him where he is going wrong.
I actually believe I am better than Wenger and would love to be given the chance to prove it. He got lucky with George Graham’s defence, since then he’s been a cunt. If he was really intelligent he wouldn’t be so fucking arrogant and do such repeatedly idiotic things. An intelligent man doesn’t do that, only an idiot does that. I could also do Gazidis job better; he’s an impotent moron with no grasp of mathematics. How these arseholes get given top jobs is beyond me. It’s all to do with who you know, not what you know – because… Read more »
Pretty sure when Arsene said “we can win the league unbeaten”, most people scoffed. Just got lucky, right?
I firmly believe most people would not last long in a high pressure job like football management. Also when you start throwing around insults you just lose all you credibility.
Of course, it’s your opinion etc.
Im free,… I’m free at last 🙂
I know it’s Pacino but trying to place the film? Calitos way or Heat?
Well done Grimster, just go and tell everyone why don’t you?!
Never tell the Grimster a secret, he’ll be like “Hey did you know Theo Walcott’s got three nipples, and one of them has Jeremy Paxman’s face?”
woops…
Arsenal are like the unreliable Daddy who never ever buys their kiddies what they want for Xmas ;'(
Daddy, you talk of these nice gifts from far and wide, but I don’t trust you any more!
Good analogy. You could add that they sneak into yourbedroom and raid your piggy bank…..while fucking you up the arse.
That’s all we need, another second rate French twat.
I know nobody probably wants to hear this , but don’t be surprised if we don’t sign anyone in the summer. We have bentner coming back as even Sunderland won’t want him. Denilson the same and maybe vela. Then there’s Campbell to come in. plus the signing we have just made and young loanies to come back Add to that the fact that arsene would never admit this squad is not good enough. Let’s face it if he couldn’t see we needed decent cover for rvp or we lack a creative goal scoring midfielder this season. What chance next when… Read more »
I have a strong feeling Arsene won’t stay beyond this season and if my hunch turns out to be true, while I won’t be delighted to see him leave it might be just the right time. We always have this 3-4 year spell where we struggle in mid table with the odd spectacular season. It’s been happening for decades and our infrequent managerial changes sometimes coincide with these ups and downs. It’s just the fantastic times we’ve had all at once between roughly ’96-08 that seems to cloud people’s judgement when it comes to the so called success we could… Read more »
Sorry Voldermort, I’m not picking on your comment, this has very little to do with your post, I just felt that this concept of our history going down the drain and mid table mediocrity is being exaggerated far too much.
No probs ar it’s all about opinions mate. What worries me is that if arsene did leave could anyone do a better job if the board still don’t release funds if indeed that’s what’s been happening.
Agreed mate, Wenger’s ideas may or may not get us out of the current situation, but I feel the board are looking back on the last 15-16 years and compared to the 16 or so years prior to Wenger’s arrival it looks like we’re the best club in the world! I don’t know where to lay the blame and while we can all come up with solutions, it’s hardly trial and error where we’ll be afforded the opportunity and time to find what works perfectly. I don’t know what will get us out of this sluggishness as a club but… Read more »
WIth the way things are now, I think it’s high time for Arsene to “overspend” on a player. I don’t mean overspend on just anyone, but if, say, a top drawer attacker/striker etc became available, and the club wanted 5-10m more than we valued him at, then f*ck it; if he’s top quality then there’s a good chance he’s make up the extra value by getting us back up the table/helping to win us a trophy (yes I know other issues such as wages, agent fees etc come into play; hypothetically, as an example let’s say all those aspects didn’t… Read more »
I appreciate it might not solve all our issues but feel we’re in such dire straits that it should at least be on the agenda. At least then we couldn’t accuse him of not trying to do smth.
A valid point, but like you say…I don’t think he’ll do it. There’s always the ‘if only’ frustration at the end of every season, whether it’s about a signing or a substitution or an injury. It’s easy to feel sorry for our predicament but like many have said, most of it is our own doing. While I don’t think Wenger alone can be blamed, there has to be something more deeply rooted that has led to this inertia. And just getting rid of board or Wenger walking away may or may not spell an end to the ‘troubles’
Here we go again! I think the board ar the root of these whole mess. They would nt give the man cash n expect him to compete with clubs like city, utd, chelsea, real, psg n barca. Wat would people say if arsene did somtin like the ibrahimovic-eto’o €40m inter= zlatan flop? People wil kil him, right? Bring back david dein so we can get our transfer potency back. Wenger almost single handedly built d invicible squard except bergkamp, right? Sign these playerz at a reasonable n fair prizes with the help of david dein whom son as nw turn… Read more »
I can not see Wenger as manager next season. Whether he quits or board offer him another role,who lows? what baffles me is he didn’t take a final punt in the transfer window. Maybe his pride meant he didn’t want to go back on his principles in his last season. Read someone suggest he did not want to splurge budget kept for next manager. That would be incredibly selfless.problem now is new manager target may not come if we don’t make it into the champions league.
Personally I think part of the reason we’re monitoring all these now players is in case RVP moves on. It’s not an excuse but in the formation we play currently with rvp it is and will continue to be difficult to attract sought after strikers because they’ll be aware they’re going to be in a substitute to RVP role (and look what’s happened to Chamakh whilst he’s been in roles). That’s why we aim for younger strikers who are still developing. But if RVP goes the people we may be able to attract broadens. That said I’m permanently crossing my… Read more »
French is not one of my languages but roughly translated it`s `the more things change, the more they stay the same`.(yeah – very roughly) trying to figure how an intelligent man, like M. Inerta, could make so many stupid mistakes, led me to wonder if we got it all wrong. Perhaps he only follows instructions? Almost unnoticed we have been a sellibg club, for yonks,Herd, Stapleton, Kennedy, Thomas etc all went to our major rivals. Then the bonza sale by Bertie Mee of the `71` double team launched us into the !8 yr. dark ages. To keep the common people… Read more »