Arsenal Transfer News: Olivier Giroud Heading To Emirates
Montpellier ace set to join Gunners for £12 million within the next 24 hours.
Mirror, who quote the Montpellier striker's current manager, Rene Girard, saying "Arsenal are very interested and Giroud wants to play in England. If Arsene agrees with the president , he will sign for them." The tall target man helped unfashionable southern club Montpellier to a first title last season, scoring 21 goals and weighing in with 9 assists. If the deal does go through as expected, Giroud will join up with German forward Lukas Podolski at the Emirates following the European championships, shedding further doubt on the future of free-scoring Dutchman Robin van Persie. Reports further suggest that Wenger will seek to offload misfiring Moroccan Marouane Chamakh in any deal for Giroud, with the former Bordeaux player moving the other direction. News that's unlikely to be met with protest from the club's fans. Wenger has had mixed success recruiting from Ligue 1 of late, with Chamakh the most obvious example. But the list of dishonour also includes the anonymous Park Ju-Young, formerly of Monaco: another striker who has failed to make an impact since his arrival last summer. With Niklas Bendtner returning from a loan spell with Sunderland, and with Carlos Vela ending his time with Real Sociedad, it seems certain that the coming months will herald a considerable shake-up of Wenger's attacking options.