Everton manager Ronald Koeman has revealed just how close The Toffees were to signing Olivier Giroud from Arsenal.
Everyone knew that Everton came close to signing Olivier Giroud from Arsenal in the summer. The striker himself admitted after the close of the transfer window that a move to Merseyside was most definitely on the cards, per Sky Sports.
It’s only now, however, with the sacking of Ronald Koeman, that we realise just how close Giroud was to pulling on an Everton shirt this season.
“I had Olivier Giroud in the building. He would have fitted perfectly, but at the very last moment he decided that he’d rather live in London and stay at Arsenal,” Koeman told The Mirror.
“That was really hard to swallow. You tell me, where you can get a better striker?”
Where indeed?
Koeman will no doubt claim that Everton’s failure to replace the talismanic Romelu Lukaku was one of the primary factors behind a disastrous start to the season that led to his inevitable departure after Sunday’s 5-2 home defeat to Giroud’s Arsenal.
The Toffees have scored just seven goals in nine Premier League games in 2017/18 and are currently situated in the bottom three with just eight points to their name.
Giroud’s last-gasp U-turn has caused no end of problems for Everton but it appears, however, that it has not done the France international much good either.
The 31-year-old had admitted previously that he was unhappy at The Emirates after starting just 11 league games in 2016/17. Since the club-record signing of Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon, however Giroud has not been included in Arsene Wenger’s first XI on a single occasion.
Each of his eight Premier League appearences have come from the bench – hardly ideal in a World Cup year. While Everton pine for Giroud, he too may be wondering if he made the wrong decision.
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