Jack Wilshere told the Highbury Squad Podcast that Olivier Giroud was underappreciated at Arsenal.
It has been three years since Arsenal sold Giroud to Chelsea for £18 million (Telegraph), and given that he has won the Europa League and Champions League during that time, it has proven to be a costly mistake from those in the Emirates boardroom.
Giroud was a marmite-like figure during his days in Arsenal colours and he used to get mixed messages from his supporters.
But Wilshere, who shared a pitch with him for a number of years, stated that it’s ‘scary’ that the 34-year-old is still improving after being asked if he was one of the most underappreciated players in Arsenal’s history.
“You don’t see it often but he’s a player who started his career at a certain level,” said Wilshere.
“Most players do that (rise up) and then come back down. But he’s just going. What is he now? 34 or 35. He’s still going up.
“When he first came to Arsenal, and I had this conversation with him, I didn’t like playing with him. He took a while to get used to the Premier League. The first season he wasn’t very good.
“But then, he came back from pre-season and he was a new player. He was always strong and big. However, one thing that stood out was how much of an athlete he actually was.
“We would do runs in pre-season and he would be first – he lived right and I think he’s seeing the rewards for that now. His quality is coming out now – he is still improving, which is scary because he’s getting older.”
FA Cups, Europa League, World Cup and the Champions League, for a player whose goalscoring is questioned, that’s some record for Giroud.
After a successful period in England, Giroud has now taken his quick-thinking and technically gifted qualities to the city of Milan where he will be donning the colours of Rossoneri.
Another big club on the Frenchman’s CV and he will also be looking to add more trophies to that list.
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