We heard last week that Arsenal had supposedly agreed terms with Napoli over the transfer of Gonzalo Higuain to the Arsenal, in a move which would in turn see Olivier Giroud move to Napoli. It seems however that rumour was a load of nonsense and the Arsenal striker’s agent has now confirmed that his client will not be on the move any time soon.
According to the Metro, Giroud’s agent Michael Manuello, reportedly told TUTTOmercatoWEB: ‘Everything I’ve read about Giroud is not true. I’ve only ever said that if Arsenal want to sell him, then we will see. But today he is an Arsenal player I would like to stress that we haven’t even thought about another project. We never talked to Napoli and there are no other people appointed over me that can do this. We need to clarify this. Yes, you always need two strikers. Welbeck is out for nine months unfortunately. And it’s quite normal that if you play in a great team you should face strong competition.’
Giroud’s agent has certainly cleared the air surrounding the French international’s future at Arsenal and it seems pretty likely that the 29 year old will be remaining with the Gunners. Even though Giroud can be frustrating at times, I think it would be the wrong decision to sell Giroud, especially with the fact that we are lacking in squad depth up front as it is. As his agent says, it’s important that the club has at least two competitive quality strikers and unfortunately as Welbeck cannot stay fit, it’s very important that Arsenal look to invest in another striker to provide competition to Giroud, rather than replace the Frenchman.
In terms of Higuain, as much good as the player may be, I don’t think he’s the right fit for Arsenal, especially not at the rumoured prices that are doing the rounds in the media.
By AH