Giroud could replace Chamakh – not RVP

591 comments June 12th, 2012

In an interview with French radio station RMC, Montpellier manager Rene Girard has claimed that Arsenal are following their France international striker Olivier Giroud, and that the player is keen on a move to England.  Whilst it’s obviously in the early stages, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Arsene Wenger moving for one of Ligue 1’s breakout stars of 2011/12 – France is his favourite country to shop in, after all.

Giroud is a close pal of Laurent Koscielny after their time together at Ligue 2 Tours.  Like Koscielny, he is something of a late developer.  He was never once capped at youth level for France, and only made his debut this season, aged 25.  This past season, however, he has been in fantastic form, scoring 21 goals and firing Montpellier to a historic league title.

The suggestions in France is that he has a release clause of around €13m.  For an international striker, it’s not a huge amount.  And lest we forget, Arsenal are badly in need of goalscorers, even allowing for the forthcoming arrival of Lukas Podolski.  The Arsenal careers of Park Chu-Yung and Marouane Chamakh look doomed, and there’s even talk that the latter could join Montpellier as compensation for the loss of Giroud.

Swap deals are rare things, but this one would make sense.  Chamakh has not flourished in England as he did in France, and playing for Montpellier (possibly on loan) would give him the opportunity to put himself in the continental shop window of the Champions League.  There are also similarities in their style of play: they’re both tall, physical players with the ability to hold the ball up and bring others in to play. Giroud, fortunately, is a significantly better finisher with his feet than the Moroccan.

As with the signing of Podolski, this mooted transfer is only good news in addition to retaining Robin van Persie. Giroud would provide another option, an invaluable support, and a degree of depth.  He would not single-handedly replace the talismanic Dutchman.  Then again, I’m not sure anyone that we could afford would.

Anyway, here’s a look at Giroud in action last term:

He was an unused sub in yesterday’s France – England clash, where Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was surprise starter, and did rather well. Don’t forget you can grab your free Ox wallpaper from the Gunnerblog Store – just follow the instructions in the product description.

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