Olivier Giroud has played down links with Marseille by stressing he’s still targeting Premier League success with Arsenal.
The striker, who scored a hat-trick for France in Friday’s 5-0 win over Paraguay, signed a contract extension at the Emirates in January but has been concerned by a lack of regular game time.
Of his 40 appearances last season, the Frenchman made 23 off the bench, including his cameo in the FA Cup final when he set up Aaron Ramsey’s winner against Chelsea.
Speaking to France television show Telefoot, Giroud revealed: “I am not insensitive to the approaches of the French clubs and especially that of Marseille. But my future is in the Premier League. I still have titles to win.
“After the FA Cup, we will go for the league title. That’s my goal.”
Giroud is two goals shy of completing a century for the Gunners; a decent return for a player who signed for £12 million five years ago. He’ll no doubt be needed should Alexis Sanchez quit the club this season.
I feel much more confident we can push for the title with the great Giroud staying!
Under no circumstances can we accept that Alexis leaves.
I think he’ll thrive in this new system as a no10 with Ozil sitting a bit deeper.
Happy hearing Giroud wants to stay and fight
Under-rated as he does have a good scoring rate. Would be one of the very best with more pace and a better right foot.
Good option off the bench as a minimum. Let’s hope he gets the 100 and the title.
@Paul
Yeah – I completely agree. He should never start games for us. But off the bench he is a great option to have when we are chasing a game.
Giroud would be mental to leave Arsenal now to go play for Marseille, because he still gets in the French squad, and he still plays a really important role for the team.
I don’t think it’s a case of Giroud never starting a game, because he has shown his quality in the starting XI too, but I do feel he is more of a plan b now that’s Welbeck is fit again.
I do wonder what Walcott must think of being so far down the pecking order now.
The all so reassuring numbers of the world class striker Welbeck? He´s nowhere near Giroud as a striker. If the team was set up to accomodate Girouds strengths he´d be better liked by Arsenal fans and scoring even more. 17, 22, 19, 24, 16 are the goals he scored for Arsenal last 5 seasons and 23 goals for the national team. So he´s been scoring frequently for Arsenal and the France national team – what has Welbeck been doing (I know he´s been injured) over the last 5 years?
Welbeck’s role is a little different and it’s difficult to compare them purely on the goals scored column.
Both are valuable to the team.
Plus he is a fighter and we need that in the squad.
He continues to try and improve himself even at a late age.
He knows his limitations so he works to get every inch of benefit from other areas.
He doesn’t run around as much as Welbeck but he times his fight and is more efficient with the ball or off it.
And if you want someone to simply knock the door down, there is no better.
Defensively, he also contributes during set pieces when we are under duress.
He’s attitude is amazing.
I think if Welbeck’s fit, he starts everyday over Giroud for me. Danny offers so much more offensively then Oliver. He actually has pace, so he can actually use the channels. That pace also protects us as team, because it prevents the opposition from squeezing super high up the pitch against us. Whereas starting Giroud they know he has zero pace, so they can literally push their centre backs right up, which then gives any opposing centre midfield pairing free rein to pressure us in our own half when we are in possesion which causes us all sorts of problems.… Read more »
Giroud actually used the channels to set up the fa cup winner…
Well if he maybe did that more then we’d maybe .. I donno, win more games?
I think Giroud deserves a hell of a lot of credit. He has publicly spoken up in the past about needing a partner up top as he, as he put it, ‘can’t do it alone’ . He’s accepted a different role at the club, isn’t complaining and when called upon puts in real effort and has a good goal return. Should he be first choice? Not the way we play, no. Does he still have a lot to offer? Absolutely, and against stubborn opposition his physicality is just what we need, and is great when we need a target man… Read more »
I wish I was a little bit taller…
You can quit us Ollie, you beautiful bastard!
This is surely a typo and meant to read *can’t*
Yeah i did mean to “can’t”, apologies everyone – makes me look a right cant.
I love Ollie, his attitude has never wavered
Verry good typing, gays
People don’t realise how hard it would be to replace the big man. He’s a great Plan B at the very least.
I see the Express (yes I know) are saying we have gone back in for Mbappe with £95m…
In other news Pinocchio has released a statement saying he’s just signed for Red Star Belgrade.
And with him they are well on their way to becoming European champions… again.
I have been saying this for months now. I have a feeling we WILL sign M’bappe. Wenger is persistent with this one. On a side note I had a look at France’s top 10 goal scorers of all time and HFB is 9th and with 9 more goals he will overtake Trezeguet to be the 3rd highest goal scorer only behind King Henry and Platini. Giroud is one of the most underrated footballer of his generation probably because the modern game doesn’t favour no.9 as much as it used to. Giroud has a better technique than Mandzukic,Ibra,Lewandowski or Mario Gomez.… Read more »
I get behind Arsenal players as much as I can but to hear that Giroud had better technique than Ibrahimovic is surely beyond me
Giroud better technique than Ibra and Lewandowski??? Lmaoooo don’t make me laugh. Giroud isn’t underrated. He’s not world class…just decent. Simple.
On the subject of Mandzukic. What a goal he scored yesterday!
Mandzukic and Giroud are quite similar and honestly their game is not appreciated as much as it should be. There is a bias because they are not entertaining to watch. They have the technique and intelligence to play at the highest level for a long time. But, Mandzukic is a bit injury prone. If Oli is managed intelligently he will be able to play until he’s 34-35. I think that’s part of the reason why Arsene didn’t give him many starts this season. You always have to start a game with high intensity and Giroud may not have that in… Read more »
Giroud should stay with us until he retires and become an Arsenal legend.
He can replace Adams in the pantheon.
Even if we are in for Mbappe, which isn’t clear, whether we get him would be up to Monaco and Mbappe himself. He could just about go wherever he wants, I think. Though the attraction of developing under Wenger (a past Monaco coach himself) could make a difference…
Giroud is obviously a good goalscorer. He doesn’t have speed and dribbles and get underestimated because of that. He deserves to play whenever we need a physical presence and effectiveness in front. He is a far better striker than Welbeck but because of the limited options he offers, Welbeck plays more.
My 2 year old son dribbles a lot. I’m just assessing whether or not I’m underestimating him.
Any truth to the Arda Turan rumors?
Any truth in any rumours?? 🙂
The guy who invented the saying ‘No smoke without fire’ must rue the transfer window.
Any rumours to that truth? No fire without smoke.
No idea but I cant see it personally given his age.
I’m not against it though – Sami Khedira must be older and he’s still going strong at Juventus…
Nope. We don’t need him. Ramsey is better at the moment. Think it’s his agent pushing him
Definitely need to keep him. His goals to mins ratio is so impressive and his qualities provide us with a different option from the bench or as a starter against some teams.
There’s little point upgrading our attack with a ‘superstar’ if we’re going to lose quality in depth by moving on effective squad players like Giroud.
Only the window licker had a higher ratio than him, and those stats became skewed due to the last 2 matches.
He’s the best “2nd striker” in the league. Very effective if you play to his strengths which France do with their pacy wingers getting to the byline and putting in crosses. He also works very well with a second striker just behind him, in France’s case Griezmann. Love him and would be very sad to see him leave.
Think he genuinely loves the club too. Which is what we want from our players I believe.
I agree. He does even better with a bit of competition. Like most players, he does have a lean patch in him, which takes nothing away from his qualities. We shouldn’t sell him.
I think in the original French, he sounds even less open to moving than in the translation. He is only saying he is aware that French clubs are interested. Not a hint that the interest is returned.
whenever giroud transfer rumour stems up, i always think about the jack wilshere goal against norwich and his 2 delicious touches for the goal ?.i want him to retire at arsenal because i think with his attributes he can still play as a striker till late 30’s
What a remarkable season he had. You’d be hard pressed to find a more efficient player than Oli this season. Seemed like he made the most of nearly all his opportunities. Gotta keep him, the only out and out striker we’ve got IMO.
You will not get a better substitute striker in world football!…I can’t believe I am singing Ollies praise..but the truth is as long as he is a plan B he is a big assets.. I am not sure how accurate Wikipedia is but kindly have a look at OG’s strike rate and compare it with Benzema who arguably is the WC striker we’ve been after forever.. Can you see the similarities?…strikingly similar strike rates eh?.. I still want us to get that 30 goal a season striker and if we can keep Sanchez and Ozil we will win the EPL… Read more »
He is not a 2nd striker/plan B. He has started 16 games and scored 16 goals for France. Last game against Paraguay he scored a hattrick, the first for a French striker since 2000. All gosl were in the 6 yard area. He is efficient attacking the box, better than Welbeck. It is also rubbish that he is not mobile. He has worked hard in last two three seasons to get lean. His assist to Ramsey and the scorpion goal is evident that he hs sufficient ‘pace’ to get to the ball if need be but he picks his fights.… Read more »
More rubbish from certain people. He is not a second striker. Two days ago he scored a hattrick, the first for a French striker since 2000 Thus far e has scored 16 goals in 16 starts for France. All this “Giroud lacks pace” red herring ignores the fact he has put a lot of work to the timing of his runs since a couple of years back and has got a little leaner. This is evident in his assist for Ramsey and indeed the run he made for his scorpion goal against Palace. Quite simply, he is more efficient than… Read more »
Giroud is a very good player but falls in the category of not good enough of which there is no disgrace. Giroud, and by extension Arsenal have become the Tim Henman of football, very good, good enough to be top 5/10 in the World but not good enough to be beat Sampras, Agassi or Federer, those guys were always 5-10% better at everything. And this is where we are with Arsenal, we’re a very good team but for the last 5-10 years we’ve always been 5-10% short of the very best. The challenge is identifying where that 5-10% improvement can… Read more »
Atta boy Ollie!
I really want us to tie big Ollie down, he is one important player to us, imagine where we would be if he didn’t come off the bench to score those goals.
If you really know anything about football you would know he is qualit you. There are plenty of other players that are hyped up because of there transfer fees or asking price but you will find very few that can do what Giroud does. I’m not talking about when he is off form which can happen to anyone but they way he plays generally. His deft touch and setup play is very underrated so is his physical presence and heading ability. The only thing that they use to criticise him is his pace which is only a prerequisite for him.… Read more »
if we r to lighten our attackers to make way for new recruits it’ll definitely be theo before olivier cos he suits our new 352 more
I want him. He brings something
Easier to find a striker with the qualities of Welbeck than Giroud. Stats speak for themselves in this case. Giroud still a better striker, even though I like Welbecks work rate.
If he was in Italy/France/Germany there would have been loads of people on this site flagging him as the striker we needed.
He gets goals, he works hard and he seems to love AFC more than some fans love him. He puts up with a lot of stick from defenders which would see cards/penalties awarded to other strikers – Refs seem to think he’s big enough to stand up for himself.
Giroud is a decent player. We need him in the squad.
If we are to win the league, it is vital we have a player of his quality as an option up front. Not first choice, but will be important in a long season