West Ham United have been linked with the Arsenal striker but he is only likely to leave if the Gunners significantly strengthen.
According to a recent report from Goal.com, West Ham United are prepared to pay £20million to sign Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud this summer.
The problem is, the Gunners are unlikely to sell until they have signed some quality reinforcements of their own, and the Hammers cannot afford to sit around and risk missing out on other targets; especially when there is no guarantee the Frenchman will ultimately move on.
West Ham fans will be growing restless as they read countless links with the great and the good of the game only to see no official announcement, again and again, with pre-season training almost upon them.
There is plenty of time to get deals over the line with over two months of the transfer window to go. However it would be a major risk waiting on Arsenal to complete some tricky business of their own and holding out for a Giroud deal that may never happen.
West Ham need two new strikers to really challenge next season, so they should put any hopes of a move for the Arsenal man on the back-burner and sign the likes of Michy Batshuayi, Kelechi Iheanacho or Henry Onyekuru.
The arrival of any one of those three players would ease the concern of West Ham fans still stung by last summer’s terrible striker signings, ensuring Slaven Bilic’s squad is quickly strengthened while still allowing him to move for Giroud further down the line.
The problem for the Hammers is that whoever Arsenal are targeting themselves, negotiations are likely to be long and potentially complicated by other potential suitors.
West Ham need to act fast to strengthen themselves, because if Arsenal fall short in their own transfer dealings, a move for Giroud may be off the table anyway.
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