Former Arsenal striker Paul Mariner believes Olivier Giroud is not the man to fire the Gunners to the Premier League title, but Arsene Wenger will not sell him either.
Arsenal currently sit fourth in the Premier League table after winning seven of their opening 11 games of the season, and are only two points off top spot as a result.
Wenger opted to select Alexis Sanchez as his first-choice striker thus far this season, seeing Giroud drop to the bench. The French striker has, however, managed to net three Premier League goals in five outings, despite not starting a game.
But ex-Gunner Marinier admits he still has doubts over whether Giroud can spearhead Arsenal to the title, and insists there is not enough cover upfront for Wenger to put him up for sale:
‘Giroud is not the man to take Arsenal to the Premier League title.
‘Alexis Sanchez when he’s been playing in that role – we can see what he’s been doing – he is absolutely terrific. But I can’t see Arsenal selling Giroud with so little cover.
‘He’s [Arsene Wenger] not going to play [Theo] Walcott or [Alex] Iwobi up there and we don’t know when we’re going to see Welbeck again. I just can’t see that happening.’
Although Giroud has lost his place in the starting line-up, he is fully focused on turning his fortunes around at the club, and I for one can’t see Wenger selling him – not in January anyway.
Like Mariner, I too believe Giroud isn’t the man to fire Arsenal to Premier league glory, and I think, to some degree, Wenger sees that too – otherwise he would be starting him. But the French forward is a useful squad player and has become somewhat of an impact sub as of late. His services are still required at this point in time. However, if we did have enough back-up options upfront, then I reckon he would have been sold in the upcoming January transfer window.
In my view, Arsenal still need a quality striker to join the club to take them to the next level, even though Sanchez has done a sufficient job so far in his new-found role this season.
