Olivier Giroud has said that Arsenal will be adding a striker to the ranks this summer, and that he’s ready to compete with any new arrival.
Speaking to InfoSportPlus, the HFB said, “I can tell you Arsenal will add a striker to the team. We need another striker. Great clubs have several good strikers, who compete with each other.”
To be fair to Giroud, he did say last summer he would have welcomed Luis Suarez despite what that would have meant to his own chances, and it seems he’s ready to fight for his place and, perhaps, work in tandem with another forward.
The former Montpellier man finished the club’s top scorer with 22 goals, up 5 from his first season, but as yet he says there’s been no movement on a new deal.
He confirmed last month that talks had begun, but said, “No decision has been taken yet about extending my contract.”
Giroud is also hoping to be part of France’s side as they face Honduras in their World Cup opener on Saturday, after reports that he could be left on the bench.
“It would kind of be a disappointment, because I think I’ve done well in the warm-up games. But there is a coach, and you have to respect his choices. But that’s not my primary concern, nor will it stop me sleeping right now.
“The important thing is to prepare yourself well for the first game and make yourself available for the team and the coach.”
—
Translation via @GrooverBlog
Good to know he’s ready to work together with another good *cough* Benzema *cough* striker
Not sure if Benzema is the right man to be honest mate. He is considered lazy and aloof and he plays in Spain at the moment! Also he’s going to cost 30m+ and expect galactico wages. Really disagree with blogs on the Vela front. I don’t think Santi is really best deployed in that wide left position and Podolski doesn’t seem trusted physically to play more than 65 mins. Given the market, I think we’d be crazy not to bring the lad back for 3m. Even if we allow Sociedad to sell, they won’t get more than 15m for him,… Read more »
He’s got bags of pace, he’s got 2 sharp feet and did I mention HES AN EXCELLENT PASSER OF THE BALL, seriously, his creativity and passing stats* are unbelievable (not unbelievable, but u get the hyperbole). All the criteria u need to play for Arse
*courtesy of WhoScored
Mate, we have plenty of excellent passers! What we need is an excellent finisher! Haha
My worry with Benzema is that im not sure he will add any more goals to the team In a pure swap with Giroud. Benzema had 17 goals in 35 appearances this season, Giroud had 16 goals in 36 appearances. Last season Benzema had 11 goals in 30 games, season before that his personal record, 21 goals in 34 games which is the same Giroud had in montpellier in his record season. So scoring wise they are similar, and we kind of lack goals in the team. But Benzema creates lot more for otyers though. Allthough it doesnt show on… Read more »
The idea is that Benzema will play more, and Giroud will have a chance to rest. There were games where Giroud was clearly struggling to just be in position because of fatigue. Plus Benzema is a striker who can certainly create shots of his own, and a reliably different striker than Giroud. Not to mention Giroud and Benzema already have good experience playing together in a 2 front formation – they’re pretty much going into the world cup with it.
Benzema that is
The Spanish media have been touting his buying price at around £25 million for quite a few months now. I’m not sure quite who they think would be buying him for that sum (apart from Atletico, but that’s only cropped up recently), but he’s clearly highly valued in Spain. You could read that either way, though. A) we buy him back for a pittance, and it’s a good deal because his real market price is twenty million higher; or B) we let him go somewhere else, and that’s a good idea because we rake in the cash for somebody we… Read more »
I actually think Vela would be an excellent short term signing. By this I mean for the first few months of the season. Vela has played most of his football for Sociedad on the right-wing. Theo wont be back fully match fit for the first few months of the season. We play 6 games from 10th August (Community Shield, 3 prem games and 2 legs of the CL qualifier) before the end of the month. If some of the players get to the latter stages of the world cup they would probably have a 3 week break with a one… Read more »
Benzema is too selfish.
Gareth Bale could’ve doubled his score tally last season had Benzema been bothered to pass the ball to his wide-open teammates a bit more.
I’d much prefer Cavani than Benzema to be honest. And also why not Koke? Perfect replacement for Arteta, classy passing range, good in the tackle and bags of stamina. Imagine him and Ramsey together, would dominate most midfields. Having said so none of the above would happen lol.
Price away Cavani from PSG? That would be something wouldn’t it, not gonna happend but would have been very exciting to see Cavani or Falcao playing for arsenal.
Sir Chips Carlitos Vela and/or Loic Remy? Or another forward like Mandzukic?
Whoever he is, he has to be faster because the team is slow without Walcott & the Ox (Poldi and Gnabry are also quick tbf).
No idea why people go on about Mandzukic, he’s a definite downgrade in quality to what we have already
And he’s really ugly, standing next to Giroud would crush his self esteem
In fact I’d say that’s probably the bigger issue
Yeah, shirt sales would definitely drop. Especially among the Goonerettes.
I do hope you are right Giroud
I like it when players want competition for places. They know it will push them on, make them work harder in training, they get better and the team get better.
It’s a lie man, they welcome competition hoping they will be better than their competitors. Just ask Vermalen
Obviously they hope they’ll be better than their competition numnuts. Doesn’t mean they don’t want competition, – it’ still a very good thing.
Or do you think they welcome competition, hoping the competition will be better than them and take their place? Haha you gotta love some comments!
+1 for numnuts
A ChristopherTitus-esque moment on Arseblog News.
thought it was numbnuts… would make more sense anyway
He seems to play very well when we played a 4-4-2 formation. A pacy striker will improve his game
A fit and maturing Walcoot will improve his game
Here’s hopiing he has a great tournament and bags alot of goals. But more importantly stays injury free ready for next season. Bon chance Olivier.
Olivier Giroud or Oliver bierhoff???
Well, I support France in this tourney, so hope he performs better. ION, who else here thinks that Lukaku would be amazing for us? Also Terry is a cunt.
I think Lukaku would be fantastic for us. He’s anabsolute brute up front, will never be bullied off the ball, makes good runs with great pace, and is a good finished. In fact, I think he’d be as good up front with Giroud as anyone. Problem is Moronho would never sell him to us.
+1 because Terry is a cunt
Would be surprising if they were to leave him out. He’s been on form for them for the last few matches, scoring some fantastic goals.
the way he brings pololski into the attack when they play together makes me think a 442 formation might be the best option next season if we are looking at faster strikers (like vela or remy) to play off him. but if not then he would be directly competing with a new striker like potential mandzukic or bony, and im not sure how well he will fare, although he is in my mind still an excellent striker. by the way, if wenger goes and does signings like vela for 3.5 mill after turning down fabregas for 15 (as allegedly barca… Read more »
as in, iif wenger ONLY does signings on the level of squad players like vela for 3.5 mill and not mega superstar crazy signings.
people balk at fans crying out for big signings but seem to forget the lift that ozil brought to the club, fans and team performance.
Özil wasn’t just a big money, superstar signing. He’s an excellent footballer. I think the people you’re referring to want us to buy expensive quality. Not just buy someone expensive to show off or whatever.
Why not check some numbers on Vela? The guy plays on the right wing for Sociedad and has 15+ goals and 10+ assists. And he is quick and skillful.
Cant help but think that people would be more excited if he hadnt played for us before and had a 30 million tag placed on him.
He has always done well in Spain. Don’t think he is the answer but could be wrong.
“after turning down fabregas for 15 (as allegedly barca owe us 15 mill)”
I’m sure that this is based on sound logic and impeccably sourced information. I assume at this rate that, by Friday, the conventional wisdom on Twitter will be that Barca are willing to pay Arsenal £40 million to take Fàbregas off their hands.
It’s easy to like this guy, never wanting for effort, he’s much better than he’s given credit for at times, Its just a shame i think we need pace and a bit more movement particularly against the top teams.
Im not sure if we have been watching the same games? His effort has been kind of his biggest fault. Not willing to make runs Even with an airfield of space infront of him begging to be exploited, walking out of offside so he cant receive the ball, getting bullied off the ball by players half his size cause he cant be bothered to throw his weight around or use his strenght. If he had been a talented youngster i might have been optimistic about him developing into a top class striker, But Giroud is at an age where most… Read more »
I’m quite certain I have not been watching the same matches as you Titus. How exactly could he possibly be so good at bringing other players into play (best in the league in my opinion), making all of those flick-ons, and getting into positions in the box without using his size to create opportunities? Watch a few replays to see how he constantly is backing into and holding off at least one defender, frequently two, while still maintaining the balance to make one of those soft touch layoffs or flicks. To be fair everyone has got flaws, as does Giroud,… Read more »
Take it or leave it- giroud is only good enough to come on as a substitute around the 70-75mins mark to take advantage of the tired defenders or been paired up front with a superior striker in games against the teams outside of the top 4 or 5 for a team like arsenal. Nothing more nothing less.. Would take LUKAKU over him anyday anytime
Leave it.
Okay no talk about extending his contract.. But it would be nice if the article actually told us how long he has left on it lol. Should I be non-plussed (i.e. if he still has 3yrs on it), or slightly worried (if there is 2yr). Come on AB
So happy we didn’t buy Cesc. Add that £25-£30, to the £30m we would have spent on a striker, and we can go out and get a real worldie.
Am with you on this one, fans who are obsessed with bringing back fabregas should find a new club if they cant agree with arsene that not signing fabregas is the best option!
He gets so much undeserved stick this man. Can’t fault his attitude though.
Any new striker that comes in like remy,baloteli,hulk,insighne,jackson will surely throw giroud to bench.
Insigne isn’t a striker. Hulk barely plays as a striker, mostly on the wings and he can’t really play as a sole striker that well just like Poldi. Balotelli’s a good striker, but fun fact, he’s never scored 20+ in a season in his whole career.
Stop talking ridiculous stats Balotelli has got waaay more in his locker than Giroud. Pace, power, techniques, scores free kicks, is 23. Balotelli would get monstrous figures getting fed by Ramsey et al.
Martin Jackson would be a terrific signing. Perfect age with lots of experience…also one of the most ‘complete’ strikers out there right now. Having said that, I don’t believe he is worth the 30m that the media claim Porto want for him.
*Jackson Martinez
It’s the least we could ask of you, Olivier. You’re good, just not THAT good. In Brazil, someone will be scoring goals in places other than an opposition ‘keeper’s net, surely? But who should care, right? Right??
I hope it’s not Campbell that he is talking about, though I do like that Campbell returning to us next season. He would an useful squad player.
Anyone see that Ciro Immobille the other day. Bags of pace clinical finisher just signed for Dortmund 17million euros bit pissed when I found that one out. Erm Carlos Vela…..
Did he just say A Striker? We need at least Two strikers TBH. Sanogo still need to go out in loan And become SAYESGO!!!
A striker won’t do us.
Didn’t he say pretty much exactly the same last year?
Balotelli please!
No! Great player but a shit attitude. He would disrupt what appears to be a happy camp. He’s too much trouble, as Mancini found out at City.
I don’t know if you noticed but Mancini is not the greatest man-manager in the world. Arsene might have more success. Either way Balotelli will add some world class quality up front and some world class mentalness as a bonus.
You have a point but there are certain characters that are simply beyond repair. Bendtner is an unfortunate case in point on this matter, even Wenger couldn’t work his magic on him. He’s gone now and we move on, but man that was a disappointing trajectory to watch as an Arsenal fan.
Balo gets in trouble in Milan too. Doesn’t tend to stay in one place long either. Not worth it. Get someone who isn’t the definition of a prat.
way too risky man, we’re in good shape, it would be a shame to disrupt it with signing a nut case.
Sure we need a striker but Balotelli would be a bad move
Excuse me, are we comparing Balotelli with Bendtner???
If Vela had no history with The Arsenal, everyone would be begging Wenger to sign him up. In my opinion he’ll be a welcome addition to the squad. I know he’s stated that he doesn’t enjoy life in london but that might change given that we’ve got a few spanish speaking players at the club. Loan out Sanogo, Gnabry and make some room for Vela. Could do with his flamboyant chips over the keeper. Up The Arse!
Doubt they will – mainly because it wouldn’t have been raised in conversation.
There are plenty of players of a similar ilk to Vela plying their trade in Europe. If it wasn’t for the sell-on clause and buy-back fee that we had installed on his contract, we wouldn’t even be discussing him.
Ask yourself: In a normal market, would we pay the 10-15 mil likely to be the price tag Sociedad would put on him?
@Desert Fox “There are plenty of players of a similar ilk to Vela plying their trade in Europe” Why not do us the favor of naming some?? A versatile forward with pace, skill and a decent finisher to boot. A player with 10+ goals and assists from the wings. I dont know whether we will bring him back(and I would trust AW to make the right decision) but he looks like the kind of a player the squad is crying out for. Also, in a market in which Draxler is worth 35 mill and lallana worth 25, I am pretty… Read more »
Not too sure why there is a need to list off the players. You must have me confused with a scout or some sad Football Manager fiend. Besides which i cant be arsed. My point is that there will be other players out there offering similar stats to Vela and that, should Vela not had a connection with the Arsenal, I very much doubt that we would “begging Wenger to sign him up” as the original poster had said. As for your comment re his worth against the other players, I think you may be right. But lets not forget… Read more »
What number will Other Players wear next season so I can preorder my shirt?
But what is there to lose? Bring him back for 3mil and let him have a run of games to see how he does in the season. If he doesn’t do so well then sell him on, possibly back to Spain, for that 10-15mil price tag, where he will undoubtably have a number of suitors wanting his signature. If he does well we have a top, versatile player who can bring in those extra goals and assists throughout the season. Seems like a no-brainer for me.
I’m also on Team Vela. But if he doesn’t do so well, his price tag will drop significantly.
I’d love to bring him back but I understand all the arguments against doing so.
I don’t see Wenger benching him, i think we’ll be seeing more of the 4-4-2 formation next season, Giroud and some other striker
We may see a little of it from time to time, but That’s a lot of talented midfielders sitting on the bench. I don’t think it will happen that often, let alone buy players with that change in mind.
I’ll be the first to admit I do not know everything nor am I able to predict what the Manager will do, but I cannot see how an Arsenal gameplan that bypasses the midfield or lets the other team control it will ever be allowed by Wenger.
He improved last season. How much more can he up his game, especially when it comes to pace? We shall see. Mandzucic is up for sale I think he would fit very nicely into our squad.
fuck mandzukic!
You talk about Giroud’s lack of pace and then mention Mandzukic. Have you even seen Mandzukic play?!
Manzukic is very similar to Giroud, only that Manzukic is a better finisher, what we need is a striker that is fast, has pace and strength, I personally don’t think Manzukic is what we need. As for the business of Carlos Vela, good buy for that amount, he has improved seriously and scoring 21goals last season for Sociadad will do his confidence good, Vela can play from the wings, play with another striker and play upfront alone, it will be a good buy to get him back. But we do need a great striker to give Giroud good competition.
The Vela potentiality i think has to be considered on a few points, yes he has been doing well and his confidence is high, as Blogs says this is partly, or could partly be due to the league he is in, but i think this is is outweighed by the other factors, cheap, 3.5m as number 1, confidence and form as number 2 versatility as 3, he can play left or right or striker, while not as fast as walcott he is a closer player in style to him than the ox, 4 the anti wenger part of the deal,… Read more »
Spot on with every point. I would re-sign Vela. This is one of those situations where there is everything to gain and not much to lose. Giroud doesn’t need competition: he needs help.
not a single downvote on a fatgooner comment? what is the world coming to…
He needs competition and help, this would help with his fitness and would lead to less instances of him appearing to get caught running in the wrong direction on an escalator
He can up his game by scoring more goals. :p
I would be content with the additions of Vela and Manzukic.
Just cross my mind that flamini can do a good job on the right back. Albeit lack of pace. That would be another 10mil saving where we can re-use on that ‘striker’.
Or so he said gazing into the mirror admiring his latest fade and tribal tattoo
Jackson Martinez or Mario Balotelli please..
Mandzukic is not an improvement on Giroud. If anything, Giroud is better
I think Wenger is after unpredictably so Balotelli must be a consideration.
Vela also makes sense to me. £4.5m for one but we need runners for Ozil and it will also allow Wenger to start Theo (right) or Vela (left) adding to variety into our game. it doesn’t matter which wing Santi is on.
One last point with a new right back to be bedded in Wenger might look to play a more disciplined midfielder in front of him for a while, having Vela around means will can still have pace in the team down the left.
Realistically Benzema being lazy isn’t surprising all he needs to do is take his chances well and position himself up for tap ins, with quality of players around him (Ronaldo,Di Maria,bale, Modric,Alonso,) and Higuain out the door last summer he is really the main striking option at real with not much competition.
People keep saying we should get Vela because he’s “only 4 million.” He’s not. He’s 4 million, plus half what Sociedad would have sold him to someone else for otherwise (sell-on clause), so that’s more like 12 million. And while the squad could use what he brings (a fast, versatile goalscoring forward), it seems to me that Joel Campbell can bring more or less the same things.
where did you see this. Everything I have seen says he is a flat 4.5m for Arsenal. If we don’t buy him back at that price, we would get half of whatever Sociedad sells him on to someone else for (If they sold him, which I don’t see why they would.)
What he’s saying is that let’s say Arsene has 50m to spend this summer. If he buys Vela back, he’ll have 45.5m left for other players. If he doesn’t buy Vela back, he’ll have somewhere around 58m left for other players. Hence, Vela will cost him 12.5m.
Exactly. It seems pretty clear to me that Vela isn’t staying at Sociedad after the season he’s had, so if we buy him we pay 4 million, while if someone else buys him we gain 8 million. Difference = 12 million.
Vela for backup winger or striker (in case of those typical Arsenal periods)
how can we say no to 4m of this quality?
much cheaper than Remy, same quality
that top top Striker who can also play at the wings (or the opposite)
Cavani? Sanchez?
Bender should be no brainer, just pay him and the club so we get ourselves a great young DM
+ the usual RB, GK (and CB?) replacements
I would resign Vela, for such a small amount, very little to lose and plenty to gain. Balotelli is a fruitcake and you would never know what stunt he would pull next so no thanks. Benzema I can’t see coming and not sure he is what we need anyway, Martinez or if not Sanchez is more realistic.
I would welcome Balotelli. Sure he’s been a nutbar in the past, but people do grow up. This time last year everyone was saying we’d never want Suarez on the team because he was a “bitey racist cunt” (that’s the exact phrase that was used, many times), and look what he did last season. No controversy, well disciplined, kept his mouth shut, and scored a shedload of goals.
There is no better man manager than Arsene Wenger. If anyone can shrink Balotelli’s head, it’s him. And Balotelli is a fantastic striker.
i commend how unselfish he is and the fac the is putting the team infront of his own ambitions – that’s classy. i think he’s being extrememly intelligent knowing that competition is going to improver him and make him a better striker. …strong evidence is the france squad – he always scores! very nice goals to – he knows Benzema and him are competing – automatically raises his game – needs that at AFC as well. great story that he is at least echoing we need a striker – Kos talking it up and there best friends – sure they… Read more »
Vela seems like a cheap buy with plenty of upside potential either on the pitch or on the balance sheet. However, Sociedad’s president has changed his tune somewhat from earlier today, so I have a feeling this is going add up to nothing but shenanigans on their part to raise his value for a transfer elsewhere. As for Giroud, I think he’s more or less reached his ceiling, and would therefore be better suited to playing in a 4-4-2 with a top striker who takes the pressure off him and complements his skill set with speed and finishing ability.
Giroud would score 20+ goals in La Liga. I’m not saying it’s a inferior league to the Premier League but its completely different – its more technical and tactically different. Giroud has great technical ability for being a big guy more than Benzema and his work rate is top notch compared to other Frenchmen. Vela is doing well in La Liga because it is played differently. There’s a reason why many Mexican born players do well in La Liga compared to the Premier league (the exception – Chicharito). It’s similar to La Liga MX and played at a slower pace.… Read more »
look at Michu, he wa a relatively average striker in the spanish league but set the pl on fire when he joined swansea. to be honest, there is absolutely no way to tell if someone from another league will perform well in england. sagna worked out pretty well, but the general consensus is that the french league has poor defending. jozy altidore scored a ridulous amount of goals in the eredevise (sp?) but only bagged one with sunderland (compare that to suarez, who also was on fire in netherlands)
Buying Vela gives us more options, he could be deployed alongside Giroud in a 4-4-2 as suggested or he could play RW, freeing up Walcott to play that role (when he returns). I don’t know about you but just before Theo got injured, I thought he was really growing into playing centrally when he was given the chance.
As a direct replacement for the departed Bendtner and Park, Vela would be a definite upgrade. He might even be an excellent stand-in (on the right) until Theo is fully available. He’d even be an excellent impact player off the bench in all competitions. But he’s not the first-choice front-line player we should still be looking for. No matter what a bargain he’d be.
We need top quality striker not to compete with Giroud but to help the team to win trophies. Players these days only think about whether they r first team player or not, whoever come in must understand he will need to rotates with Giroud as we r competing for 4 competitions. Let’s hope Wenger will sign a top striker who understand his roles for the team.
Good grief… Will I ever learn that I shouldn’t get emotionally attached to (former) players of Arsenal. I probably won’t, emotions are synonymous with supporting Arsenal.
I do hope Arsene, as I have been one of his fiercest supporters that he will invest this summer, otherwise this will be a low point in his career in which I simply can’t defend him. I’ve got absolutely nothing to defend him with if he doesn’t spend the funds appropriately and decisively now Fabregas has gone to Chelsea.
Jesus Fucking Christ.
I think I just vomitted in my mouth seeing Fabregas in a Chelsea shirt and for only 27 mil!!!!