Arsenal boss reveals his Premier League goal target for Giroud

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has high expectations for Olivier Giroud this season, and doesn’t believe he’ll have to dip back into the transfer market for more firepower as a result.

Arsene Wenger insists that Olivier Giroud is set for a big season at Arsenal and has backed the French international to bag 25 Premier League goals this season.

The 27-year-old came off the bench to net a late equaliser in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Everton, having been criticised earlier in the week for his lacklustre performance in the 0-0 draw with Besiktas.

Currently a doubt for Wednesday’s second-leg of the Champions League playoff-tie against the Turkish outfit, after picking up a knock on the weekend, Wenger has stressed that there is much more to come from the striker and believes he can better last season’s record of 16 league goals.

‘He scored 16 [in the Premier League last year] and he’s very convincing,’ he told the club’s official website. ‘You never have to set any limitations for any player. For me, he’s improving every year and don’t rule it out that he scores 25.’

Wenger also maintains that the presence of Giroud, along with £35 million signing Alex Sanchez and the club’s other attacking options, means a move for more firepower before the close of the transfer window is far from his mind.

‘We have [Yaya] Sanogo who will be an important asset, we have Giroud, we have Lukas Podolski, we have Joel Campbell who can play centre forward,’ he added. ‘We have Alexis and [Theo] Walcott coming back. Let’s not forget that.

‘All of our opponents look for strikers as well and nobody finds a world-class striker available who is better than the strikers you have.’

While Giroud’s record of 28 goals in 72 league appearances for Arsenal is commendable, Wenger’s target might prove a tough ask, considering the ex-Montpellier man’s previous highest top-flight total was 21 during the 2011-12 Ligue 1 campaign.

Nevertheless, his manager’s comments at least suggest that there is a great deal of confidence in him to perform this season, though living up to the past goalscoring exploits of the likes of Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie is a feat few others would predict at this point.