Arsenal have recently been linked with Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud. So for the majority of us who won’t be familar with him, here are 10 things you should know about the French international:
1. Olivier Giroud was born in Chambéry, France on the 30th of September 1986. He currently plays for French side Montpellier as a striker.
2. He started his youth career aged 8 at Olympique Club de Froges, which was his hometown side before moving on to Grenoble in 1999. He was promoted to the senior squad in 2005.
3. Giroud made his first appearance as a substitute in the opening game of the season for Grenoble and scored his first professional goal in a 2-1 defeat against Niort on the 4th of August 2006.
4. After a poor first season, Giroud went on loan to Istres for the 2007/08 season, this proved a good move where he started to find his shooting boots, scoring 14 goals in 33 games.
5. Thinking he would return to Grenoble after the season ended was short lived, as a change in management said that Giroud ‘did not have the level to play among the elite’. In turn he was transfer listed and signed a three-year deal in 2008 with Ligue 2 club Tours.
In true Gunnersphere fashion we are now going to take a look at the player in action:
6. This proved to be the move that Giroud needed and he proved Mehmed Bazdarevic that he was wrong to get rid of him by scoring 24 goals in a total of 44 appearances.
7. In that same season he was named the league’s top goal-scorer, Ligue 2 Player of the Year and was named in Ligue 2’s Team of the Year.
8. His performances attracted the interest of Montpellier who completed the signing of Olivier Giroud on the 1st of July 2010.
9. He finished his first season with Montpellier with 14 goals from 43 appearances in all competitions and was the club’s top goal-scorer.
10. This season he has continued to impress which has attracted Arsenal, as he has scored 21 goals and bagged 7 assists in the first 30 games on the season for Montpellier. In January 2012 he was valued ‘at least €50 or €60 million’ by Montpellier owner Louis Nicollin.
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