Arsenal managed to keep hold of Olivier Giroud in the summer despite interest from Everton but they face a tougher task this time around.
Amid reports linking Olivier Giroud with a summer move to Everton, the Arsenal striker confirmed that he was not willing to settle for a repeat of last season in which he started just 11 Premier League games.
“I won’t settle for such limited playing time,” Giroud said in June, as reported by The Sun.
By the time August became September, however, the 30-year-old was still an Arsenal player and Everton had failed to adequately replace Romelu Lukaku. However, it is fair to say Giroud’s demands have not been met so far.
With compatriot Alexandre Lacazette arriving in a club-record deal from Lyon, all of Giroud’s five Premier League appearances this season have come from the bench, totalling just 108 minutes altogether.
It is fair to say Giroud did not have an impact sub role in mind when confirming that he believed he still had another chapter remaining in his Arsenal story.
Therefore, Everton, according to The Sun, are set to test the striker’s resolve by putting in a new bid of £40 million this summer, and the report adds that Giroud is keen on the move as he worries about his place in France’s star-studded forward line ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
There are few better players on the market to replace Lukaku at Everton and, unlike a number of the strikers linked with a big-money move to Goodison Park recently, Giroud’s Premier League experience marks him out as the stand-out candidate.
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