Giroud’s name was allegedly put forward by former Aston Villa scout Glenn Roeder.
Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud could have been an Aston Villa player, had the Villans taken Glenn Roeder‘s advice.
Roeder had a spell scouting for Villa at the start of the decade, and according to a report in Monday’s Sun newspaper (Goals pullout, page 22) he recommended Giroud, then of Montpellier, as a possible recruit.
The 61-year-old, who now works for Stevenage in an advisory role, was brought to Villa by Gerard Houllier in early 2011, and remained in Birmingham until Paul Lambert replaced Alex McLeish the following summer.
However it is unclear when the recommendation was made.
The season of Roeder’s arrival, Giroud scored 12 goals as Montpellier came 14th in Ligue 1, but he fired them to an unexpected title the following campaign, scoring 21 goals to earn himself a £12 million move to Arsenal (BBC Sport), with whom he has won three FA Cups – including one at Villa’s expense.
Villa are not the only ones said to have paid for ignoring the former West Ham boss’s advice, with Sheffield Wednesday claimed to have snubbed his suggestion to sign current Villans striker Jonathan Kodjia.
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