Arsenal FC are not willing to let go of their ace striker Olivier Giroud after the Frenchman churned out a couple of match-winning performances at the 2016 European Championships, according to reports from the English media.
Giroud has failed to make much of a difference in the Arsenal side ever since his £13 million move from Ligue 1 side Montpellier, in 2012. Hence, Arsenal have been linked with a move for a number of strikers this summer.
Arsene Wenger has is said to have been impressed with Lyon frontman Alexandre Lacazette, with Arsenal being closely linked with a move for the £42 million-rated Frenchman this summer. In fact, Arsenal are reportedly the only side who are interested in signing Lacazette.
The Gunners have also been linked with highly-rated Spanish forward Alvaro Morata. However, with Real Madrid demanding around £65million for the 23-year-old, it seems unlikely that Arsenal will move for him, unless Los Blancos decide to lower their asking price.
Due to these links, Arsenal were said to be willing to let Giroud leave this summer, if their demands were met. However, with Giroud performing well with the French national side at the 2016 European Championships, the Gunners have decided to thwart the interest that any other club has shown on Giroud, according to a report in the Daily Mirror.
Is a change in role on the cards for Giroud at the Emirates?
Giroud’s immense success at the European championships has mainly been due to the fact that Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann has been joining him up front, for Les Bleus. Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand pointed this out in a recent appearance on British television.
“He’s [Giroud] not going to run behind me, he’s not quick, I can battle him physically, but when you’ve got someone around him who’s going to run behind, then I think, ‘I have to go back with him and Giroud gets a bit of space’,” Ferdinand recently said on a BBC show [via Squawka].
“Bringing him into the No.10 role has actually enhanced the two players’ games. Griezmann’s game has gone up because that is where he prefers to play, but also, having Griezmann around Giroud has enhanced Giroud and he is scoring goals and looking like a top player in this tournament,” continued Ferdinand.
Giroud might have scored just three goals at the European Championships so far, but if we take a look at the statistics above, we will see that the Frenchman has been a much better team player for France, than what he has been for the Gunners last season.
He is playing almost double the number of key passes per game for his national side, while his assists per game rate has gone up from 0.16 in the Premier League, to 0.4 at the European Championships, making him a much more effective player, when the overall gameplay of the team is taken into consideration.
Giroud has always been a striker with immense physical presence. However, at Arsenal, he was left alone up front, as he went to challenge for the aerial balls. At France though, Giroud has Antoine Griezmann making clever runs off him. This has clearly given the Arsenal frontman a lot of direction, as his aerial duels winning rate has gone up from 52.08 per cent in the Premier League, to 67.65 per cent in the European Championships.
As Arsenal have thwarted most attempts to prise the Frenchman away from North London, this may be a huge indication that manager Arsene Wenger might be looking to give play two strikers up front next season.
