As Arsenal’s interest in Alexandre Lacazette increases, links involving a swap deal involving Olivier Giroud have increased.
The Arsenal striker was pictured at Lyon airport this evening, sparking rumours he’s on his way out of North London, and president of the Ligue 1 club, Jean Michael Aulas, has confirmed their interest in the Handsome French Bloke.
“There has been an approach, at some point, for Giroud,” he said.
“He is a boy that we like, who scores lots of goals and who has a lot of ambition for Russia.
“He told me personally that he wanted to take his time, that things were not completely defined with Arsenal, that he had a secret hope that he would be the number one striker next season.
“The key is Arsene Wenger. We are watching. We will try to very quickly sign a top European attacker.”
The Gunners have been linked with a £44m move for Lacazette in recent days, but it seems Giroud could be used as a makeweight in the negotiations.
Let’s see what happens.
Would rather we used Welbeck as part of the deal as Lacazette is more similar to him and can actually finish. Giroud is a great plan B…
Noooooooooooooooo
…nooooooo noooooo no no nonooooo
I wouldn’t be happy with this. Giroud needs to stay as our squad striker. He can be our Edin Dzeko.
Unless we got Mbappe as well. Then I’d be happy with it. But I don’t think we will. So I’m not happy with it.
We won’t win the league with giroud as our number 1 striker. He will leave if he isn’t number 1. Therefore we buy someone and sell giroud,
Why keep him and he never pass 20 goals a season we need more fire power up front to win the league
Giroud is far better ranked than Lacazette in the national team. Lacazette isn’t even second in the trench squad. It is now Giroud then Mbappe then Martial then Lacazette or Gameiro. Lacazette not sure to go to Russia.
You’re right we won’t win the league with giroud as our no 1 striker but he certainly can be a big part of it. When looking at our squad we have 4 strikers . one of them welbeck was perennaly injured for 2 years apart from a few months. And Lucas Perez is pretty much guaranteed to be sold. And if we sold giroud too we are going to be left with just with just lacazete and unreliable welbeck provided all these stories about Sanchez being sold is true. Pretty much feel like the season we had perenally injured arteta… Read more »
but he doesn’t want to be a squad player, plain and simple. so he is leaving, unfortunately. I would love him as a plan b striker, or to combine with lacazette or whomever. I still remember how well he combined with Griezmann for France
OG could not be guaranteed first team football, I think Wenger made that clear last year. What we want from OG and what OG wants are unfortunately two different things.
Giroud signed a new contract a few months ago and we’ve been on the look out for a star striker for years now. If he wasn’t prepared to accept a rotational role he shouldn’t have signed up, unless there was a release clause in there (new summer striker arrival = free to leave for a set price)
We forget the guy wants to be the main striker, so, bye bye
I don’t understand why we are entertaining the idea of Giroud leaving. We will be playing 50+ games next season. Welbeck’s injury record is a bit dodgy over the past couple of seasons and he’s not a prolific scorer inspite of being so hard working. Perez is also leaving. Lacazette probably is coming in from a different league to the PL which is tougher and will take time to adapt. Sanchez still hasn’t signed the new deal so there’s a chance he might leave. And we are seriously considering a striker who consistently scores 20+ goals a season leave? Walcott… Read more »
Who exactly is in the queue to buy Walcott?
If we sign Lacazette, he’ll voice his concern over playing time. Then West Ham will bid, or swap him for Mahrez?
West Ham or Liverpool or abroard? I’m struggling. Which tells it’s own story.
Watford
Irrelevant to this discussion. Lay off Walcott for the moment. He’s not going anywhere.
He would be such an asset as a super sub. Not to mention we take a huge hit to our sexiness. Fingers crossed he stays
Would prefer to keep him but can understand if he wants to leave.
There’s no way we can allow Oli to leave with 98 goals . He has to complete his century! But really we shouldn’t allow him to leave unless we are sure about the future of Alexis.
Giroud is a great option off the bench but he’s too good for that (as much as I would like him to stay and perform that role) so I can see him moving on this summer. If this leads to us buying another good CF I won’t be too upset. If Giroud knocks 20 mil off Lacazette’s price and we get 14 for Lucas then why not splash out on Aubameyang? (I’m presuming Mbappe is going to Real) Not quite as tall as Giroud but a hell of a lot quicker. Welbz/Lacazette/Aubameyang leading the line would be a great trio… Read more »
I like the idea of “wise forwards”. Always shoot when they should shoot and pass when there are better opportunities!
Wise forwards. According to Monty Python, Nietzsche and Wittgenstein did a decent job for Germany, while Socrates led the line for Greece.
Auba only wants Real Madrid. And coming to Arsenal from Dortmund would make no sense right now. Don’t get your hopes up
But he was practically signed for PSG??? Till they pulled the plug.
and Auba misses easy chances just like Giroud too! perfect replacement. on a serious note, he sure is a hell of a lot quicker.
Giroud doesn’t miss many easy chances. His ability to get the ball moving towards the goal in sliding tackles, weird foot positions and other stuff is in fact rather bloody excellent. It’s actually getting those opportunities that his main weakness (due to lack of speed, accelaration and movement).
I just hope Lacazette is not Le 8-Track
Are you here all week?
You’re kylian me softly with your song.
If we buy Lacazette and sell Giroud, we have made no progression whatsoever.
Not sure I agree. Lacazette isn’t coming in to be second choice is he.
Giroud is great but the wrong type of striker for us really. Certainly a useful option but as somebody else said probably too good to be happy as second choice.
You can have more than a few top strikers, no need to be one in one out. City have Aguero and Jesus, neither want to be benched, they are still after Sanchez too, the cunts
Jesus is new to Europe, he’s not expecting anything more than rotation with aguero.hes 20 or so, giroud is 30 and has his last chance at a World Cup next summer.
Exactly. Chelsea city united all have multiple good strikers . its a long season not one striker , not even two strikers considering arsenals history can play all season.
Besides it feels like a cop out on girouds part if he isn’t even going to be fighting for the place and instead leave on the first sight of competition. After all this is the same guy who keeps lacazete out of the French first team.
Agree entirely. Especially when you think that it’s Giroud that’s keeping Lacazette out of the French side.
Horses for courses
France played Gignac ahead of Lacazette too
I think there’s a strong case to be made that there’s room for both in the Arsenal side. Giroud’s been great for us as an impact sub for us last season.
If the players are happy with it. If the World Cup had been this summer I think giroud would have been ok with it.
Yeah, in a 3-5-2 they could even play up top together. Not suggesting it would be a normal thing, but it’s possible in the formation.
Giroud is not for sale….he provides the alternative along with Welbeck on set pieces when we fail to unlock defences, besides he is a natural goal scorer from open play..he proved that time and again. …
However, i will put Walcott up for sale should the arises.
The HFB should never be spoken of as a makeweight.
Giroud would kill it back in Leeg oooon. But I don’t want him to go.
This feels wrong if true. Trading a proven 20+ / year for a we-just-don’t-know. If Theo moves on too that’s around 40 of this season’s goals walking off. Sanchez? Well that puts the mark at 70+. That is essentially all of our goals. That’s re-starting our attack entirely from scratch.
It’s more like Leeg Euhh.
No we’d be trading s 20+/year for a 30+/year.
As long as facts are facts..
Uh, 30+ in leeegue ooono. As we all know that’s not the prem.
Chamakh anybody?
Giroud starts for France.
He has been pigeonholed as “supersub” at Arsenal!
Not because he lacks quality.
But because Arsenal seems reluctant to play to his strength.
I am a great Arsenal / Wenger supporter.
And I also believe Giroud is being wasted at Arsenal.
He should go where he will receive the service / support his game needs.
Long balls into the box isn’t really our style
The conundrum is Ox and Gibbs had been really good end of season at sending crosses in from wingback in the 343. But much of the time Oli was not on the pitch to make use of them.
Pffff. Gibbs can go, new man in town.
He’s also so good at one-touch links in the final third with quicker, more agile players buzzing around him. Our most sexy football moments have often involved him.
It’s difficult to decide what has been the most bizarre aspect of our fanbase in recent years, but the under-rating of Giroud is right up there. In a couple of years we’ll look back on his showreel and realise just how good he’s been for us.
Is it just me or this lyon president guy is fkn annoying???
No it isn’t just you
Yeah he’s a prick but he knows how to get value better than our lot
Yeah, he certainly likes to get in front of the cameras and blather on and on.
Reports tonight that West Ham want Walcott?
In our new system there’s no space for him.
Make more sense to sell our wide forwards than to sell Giroud, they’ll be plenty of football with Europa league next season.
Signing Lacazette seems very blah.
Rather keep Giroud and strengths other areas
I agree with the general sentiments being expressed here. It seems really unwise to let Giroud leave when we still don’t know what Sanchez and Özil are doing. Likewise, if we’re not getting Mbappe (which seems exceedingly unlikely), there’s certainly room for both Giroud and Lacazette in the side. Sadly, I think letting Giroud go, in the interests of his international career, is exactly the kind of thing Wenger would do.
Maybe the club do know but aren’t saying anything yet.
I dont see the connection about not letting Giroud leave before we know what happens with Sanchez and Özil.
They are completely different players. And if Sanchez and Özil leaves, we need to add players in their positions as well.
Wenger rarely buys a lot of players at once as everyone knows it disrupts the flow of the team. If Giroud goes as well as Sanchez and Özil then that’s another player that needs replacing, don’t see any internal solutions either. How many 1st team players do you expect Wenger to sign? If Lacazette arrives that’s already 2 and no departures as of yet.
Is it worth mentionig that lacazette is constantly sitting on the bench for France, (not even coming on) while Giroud starts every game scoring goals?
No, it isn’t, because at least five people have mentioned it in the comments for every article here on the topic of Lacazette, Giroud, or Lacazette & Giroud for the last 3 months. And it wasn’t that insightful the first 30 times.
Why Giroud? Swap Perez instead. And if Lacazette is worth £44m, than Giroud must be worth atleast £25-30m. I just wish that they sort this situation quickly, sort contracts, sell some players, sort striker situation, buy Goretzka (or whoever Wenger wants) and start preparing for next season.
Um we cant just swap whoever we want. The other club needs to actually want the player!
Oh, so THAT’S what we’ve been doing wrong this whole time. It all makes sense now…
Giroud would be missed by many fans. we seem to be at a point where Change is needed within the squad.A few need to leave and hopefully a few will arrive. I prefer the more fluid way we have played at times and that doesn’t include the big man,its great to have options but it would be even greater to have a season where our main players don’t get seriously injured, that has cost us plenty over the years.
Surely having options – i.e. rotation – is a way to reduce injury to our key players?
If lacazette comes in we’ve got 4 first team strikers. At least one has to go.
Who are the 4? If you’re including Walcott surely he’s the one to go as he doesn’t fit into the new system.
Wellbeck
Giroud
Perez
Lacazette
Think we can assume Perez is on his way out this summer.
Don’t like the idea of Giroud leaving as part of a swap with an untried and untested striker from a league which it normally takes a year at least to acclimatise from. Actually I don’t like the idea of him leaving full stop!
I think critics will come around to appreciate Giroud after he leaves. He is a good striker that give us something different.
Giroud can be a make weight for someone proven like Aubameyang. No way I would swap Giroud and cash for Lacazatte.
At least not 50 million quid. Giroud is 30 but still has at least a couple of years left in him. If the swap is done plus money I’d say it needs to be in the region of halved.
But still, to ditch Giroud for Lacazette is a gamble indeed.
Giroud is a great squad man but don’t think he will settle for that no more. He’s a top man and proper player but has his limitations.
It’s him or welbeck for the big man role and welbeck wins out on being more mobile.
Girouds current value is 10 times that of if he’s on bench all year misses out on World Cup and is what 32.
Right now he could cut laca price in half and he create money can go against a Maherz or a Thomas Lemar.
Giroud beats Welbeck by far by actually scoring goals.
I hope we find someone better than Mahrez, and Lemar I havent even heard of.
And actually being available and fit most of the time, unlike Welbeck.
Sadly I don’t think Welbeck will ever break 20 Prem goals a season.
Whether you have heard of him or not, Lemar should be one of the transfer rumors we are most excited about. He has an awful lot going for him.
Honestly I was never a real Giroud fan, but he did always his best and fought for his place as first striker. It will be surely a big loss, from the bench he was rly a game changing weapon.
But I think Laca is a perfekt striker for Arsenal, the boy has everything we missed down the years and to be honest Giroud is not getting any younger and we can get one of the hottest prospects in Europe in exchange.
I don’t see using him as a make-weight in the deal for lacazette an improvement at all.we all know the hfb can be a bit lethargic but he scores plenty and is a good tactical chamge when used as a sub. Hope he stays.
In terms of variation in playing styles, I rather sell Welbeck and Lucas over Giroud if we sign Lacazette. Granted I haven’t seen that much of him, but Lacazette doesn’t seem to possesses the aerial presence, strength or close link up play Giroud offers. He seems to be quick, a good finisher and have an ability to come in from wide to either be involved in the link up play or finish moves (almost a combination of Welbeck and Lucas) I’m sure he’ll be a good signing and fit in with out patterns of play, however he does feel more… Read more »
No…just No! Giroud still has a job to do at arsenal!
Non! Take welbeck or walcott but leave the HFB!
Would be a mistake to let him go just yet. 1) Welbeck is not as efficient in front of goal and particularly in the 6 yard area, not just yet. 2) We need a variety of methods to break teams down. 3) There is a reason why Giroud starts ahead of Lacazette (for the matter Benzema even if he has certain off field issues). Giroud is a node that brings in the second line very well particularly against congestion which is how most teams will set up against us. I expect there is still going to be much manouvering going… Read more »
16 goals in 16 starts for France.
Hardly a plan B option.
Personally i think if we can sell ozil who doesn’t show up in soo many games when he’s needed most and buy lacazette to replace ozil. Sanchez has been doing ozil’s job assisting all season long plus our leading goalscorer. So we just need another scorer to help sanchez and Giroud. Arsenal is blessed with players to create chances don’t you all think ?
Olivier wants some more. Keep him. Sell Theodore.
I’ve been watching some highlights from last season. We need to retain Giroud for his ability to come off the bench and score/assist. If not that, he scored the goal of the season. That ought to count for something.
I wonder how much we would sell Giroud for. It seems like we always sell our top players below their market value for some reason. In today’s market, disregarding how underrated he is, he should fetch 30 mil. He is that good and not pacey, so his game might not suffer as quickly as others while he ages. And he has a long contract I think.
Can’t let him leave, with the uncertainity of Alexis, we just can’t afford to lose two attacking players at one go.
And Ox is linked to Liverpool as well.
Giroud is from Savoie and has been back home for the past weeks. Closest international airport is Lyon…
Please don’t ruin conjecture with common sense facts.
Was just about to say the same thing.
If the only evidence for this is Olli going through an airport to see his family and the big mouth of the Lyon chairman, then we have no worries.
We played 55 games this season. Next season will likely be more, which means Giroud will get plenty of game time.
Ambition for Russia?
People clambering for aubamgayang??? I literally cant get my head around this.. if you think giroud goes through barron spells of missing sitters aubamayang is the very same.. a very poor finisher,its just his runs and speed whitch keep hos figures up… lacazette is by far a better finisher.. comments show me that none of you who suggest aubamayang have watched these players in any detail at all
Say what you want about Wenger but he’s got an eye for a deal when it comes to selling players.
We have been down this road with Lacazette for several seasons now and just when it seems we may buy him the Lyon president suddenly put up barriers , so I see this year being no different, regardless if we offer Giroud or not. I think Giroud is a good player to have in any team,and as you pointed out several days ago he comes in front of Lacazette in the French team and scores more goals.
Dont underestimate our handsome french bloke
I don’t understand why we are being so nice on players? He is a proven and reliable asset for the club, has a long term contract and should stay. Leaving is only good for him, not for the squad.
If we want one day to be up there with the biggest club, we need to be ruthless and Arsène needs to learn to manage this kind of situations (or is it another thing he can’t do?). I mean, have you seen the bench of Real Madrid?
Totally. If Lacazette comes in and Giroud goes then he knows he’s set for the number 9 position for the rest of the season. We need genuine top level competition, pushing themselves to improve or be taken over by the other guy. I want to see Giroud and Lacazette competing for that spot with Welbeck amongst it too.
Giroud needs to stay. He is a great player and Arsenal needs his qualities. People keep slagging him of for not scoring enough goals but he´s outstanding in the link up play, really strong and a handfull for any defender and very good in set pieces. It´s not his fault we can´t be arsed to play to his strengths. Any one else on here gone ballistic that we keep crossing low when Giroud is on the pitch just to change as soon as he´s subbed for Walcott?
Please I beg of you, Lyon, to take this tree stump off our hands
I would be gutted if our HFB leaves. We couldn’t win the league with only him being played into the ground, but I sure as hell don’t see us winning it by getting rid of him. He’s actually a really good striker that we don’t use correctly, is a team player and genuinely loves the club and wants to do well. He’s also very skilful and pacier than some care to admit (nice run in the FA cup final to set up the goal). The only problem that Oli has is that Alexis doesn’t seem to like him much, (mind… Read more »
I’d be very sorry to see Giroud leave. On the other hand I’d much rather see him reaching for Ligue 1 with Lyon rather than scrubbing around with West Ham.
I wouldn’t want him wasting his career here if the team is headed in a way that doesn’t suit his talents.
Get Lacazette and keep GIROUD
Come on Oli, one more year mate!
That would be stupid, and I’m certainly not a fan of Giroud, but he’s the best subrotation striker we can have.
I am not convinced by Lacazette at all. I would be completely underwhelmed if we sign him. He’s just not good enough to take us up a level.