By Chris Wright
Oi oi. Arsenal have only gone and signed Olivier Giroud on a ‘long-term deal’, chucking £12 million in Montpellier’s direction for the pleasure – a deal which has been teetering over the very precipice of completion for what seems like months and months and months.
Giroud won the title with Montpellier last season, snaffling 21 goals in 36 league appearances, leaving him joint top-scorer and earning him a place in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year. Word is, he’s asked to wear the currently uninhabited No. 12 shirt at the Emirates.
Said the man himself via Arsenal’s official website:
“I was attracted by the philosophy of football and Arsene 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.”
Hands up, we don’t know an awful lot about Monsieur Giroud save the fact that he’s like a slightly more adept Nicklas Bendtner in style and that his trademark goal celebration is unlikely to go down particularly well with his new teammates…
Word to the wise, you might want to run that by your new colleagues rather than just springing it on them Olivier.
Here’s his best bits from last season…
Image via @GiroudMHSC/Arsenal