Gunnerblog

Giroud signs: A good piece of proactive business

967 comments June 27th, 2012

And so, Arsenal have confirmed the signing of France forward Olivier Giroud.  It’s not yet July and we’ve already completed two major transfers.  This is unusually proactive behaviour from Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger, who has made plenty of unofficial statements about the player already, officially said this:

“We are delighted to have secured the signing of Olivier Giroud. He has a very good physical presence and is exceptional in the air, with a great work ethic. We are excited about Olivier joining us and he will add an additional dimension to our attacking options next season.

He has proved that he is capable of performing at the top level with club and country, and we saw what a big influence he was in Montpellier’s championship-winning side last season. We all look forward to Olivier joining us and seeing him play in an Arsenal shirt.”

Giroud himself, meanwhile, is clearly delighted to have signed.  Presumably it was the player’s strong desire to make the move that saw this deal tied up relatively quickly:

“I am delighted to be here at Arsenal and to be part of one of the great teams in English football. It’s a huge satisfaction to join this great club and it’s been a dream since I was young to play in the Premier League.

I was attracted by the philosophy of football and Arsène Wenger’s ‘touch’ at this club. I have always admired Arsenal with its great history and reputation, and I now hope to achieve great things here. I’m very proud to be a Gunner and I will give my best for all the Arsenal fans.”

We owe a debt to Giroud’s France and former Tours team-mate, Laurent Koscielny, who doubtless helped convince him of the upside to joining Arsenal.  We were aided too by a very reasonable release clause in Giroud’s contract, pricing him at around £13m – not bad for the top goalscorer in Ligue 1.

This remains a big step up for a man who was playing football in France’s second division a few years ago, but Koscielny has shown such a transition can be managed with talent and hard work.  A quick glance at Giroud’s career record shows 93 goals in 216 games – not bad for someone deemed a slow starter.

He certainly has the qualities to make an impression in the Premier League: he’s tall, powerful and good in the air. His adaptation will probably be helped by the fact that he seems an intelligent guy: at Tours he was also undertaking a university degree, and made an impressive stand against homophobia in football whilst posing for a gay magazine.

Of course, there will be further question marks over how this signing relates to the future of Robin van Persie.  The pair do share certain similarities: they both prefer to play in the central striking role, are both left-footed, and both enjoy taking the keeper by surprise by striking the ball early – often on the volley.  However, I don’t take either Giroud’s arrival – or that of Lukas Podolski – as confirmation that RVP is off.  Both signings were necessary to improve upon the efforts of Chamakh, Gervinho, Park and Arshavin last season.  Both could play with RVP, and provide backup artillery if necessary.  If, however, the worst comes to the worst and Van Persie is sold this summer, at least we’ve begun the job of replacing him a good while before 5pm on transfer deadline day.

We’re taking more control of our fate, and not letting one player determine our entire summer transfer policy.  Makes a change, that.