Wenger gunning for Giroud

Arsenal are set to sign France striker Oliver Giroud from Montpellier, a move that will increase speculation that Robin Van Persie will leave the club this summer. 

Giroud was spectacular for Montpellier last season, scoring 25 goals as his side lifted the French league title.  Arsenal could now have a very different-looking strike force after they captured Lukasz Podolski at the start of the transfer window. 

The signing of Giroud will both excite and worry Arsenal fans as once again the future of their skipper will come into question.  Juventus and Manchester City are thought to be very interested in Robin Van Persie and he is yet to commit his future to the North London side.  Even with Van Persie’s potential departure from the club this summer, Arsenal already look in better shape to challenge on all fronts next season, providing they don’t lose any more key players.  Podolski and Giroud will create a new-look attack for the Gunners whilst the likes of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will add flair and creativity to provide their new hit men with the ammunition to fire at goal.

The other side of the argument is that this signing will convince Van Persie to commit his future to Arsenal.  The Gunners captain stated that money wasn’t an issue and he wanted to see the club match his own personal ambitions by acting early in the transfer window and signing some top quality players.  Wenger has certainly done this and the ball is now in Van Persie’s court regarding his future plans.

Wenger will now look to add a couple of full-backs as Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs and Andre Santos have all proven to be injury-prone and with no other quality replacements in the current squad, this is a cause for concern for many Arsenal fans.

It’s been so far so good for the Gunners in this transfer window as Wenger finally looks to have learnt from past mistakes.  He acted early with the Podolski signing and now looks to have done the same with Giroud, and these aren’t the usual average players that he used to bring in: these are proven goal scorers at the top level and hopefully they will be able to bring their form into the English Premier League.   If Robin Van Persie decides to stay at Arsenal then next season could see Arsène Wenger’s side genuinely challenge for the top trophies for the first time in quite a while, but to make sure of this, he needs to identify the problems at the back and bring in a couple more full-backs.  If he does then Arsenal will head into next season with a very good chance of achieving some overdue success.

Alex Smith