Arsenal Cannot Exchange Giroud For Another Forward

Arsenal have recently been pursuing Mauro Icardi and using Olivier Giroud as bait. That would still leave only one striker, which could prove disastrous.

According to the transfer rumors of August 8 and 9, Arsenal are extremely interested in Mauro Icardi after being repeatedly rebuffed by Lyon for Alexandre Lacazette.

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They are so interested in Inter’s Argentine captain that they are prepared to put up £35m as well as Olivier Giroud in exchange for the striker.

Optimistic fans could argue that Giroud‘s market value will only continue to tail off, and so it is sensible to cash in on the Frenchman sooner rather than later.

There’s also an argument to be made about Theo Walcott‘s re-emergence as a forward this campaign. Manager Arsene Wenger has told the press that he has faith in Theo Walcott to put his struggles from 2015-16 behind him and become a prolific striker this campaign.

To put it simply: that’s not going to happen.

First of all, exchanging Olivier Giroud in any deal this summer would be a massive mistake. He’s proven in the Premier League to score 15 goals in a campaign – unlike Mauro Icardi – and the concept of letting him go would leave Arsenal with zero proven strikers. That would be awful.

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As Arsenal fans have learned already, having zero Premier League proven players in one position is critical to a team’s stability is extremely perilous.

The Gunners’ center back crisis is exactly that – and it’s crystal clear that Arsene Wenger must stop digging his heels in and buy a replacement defender.

Staying on topic with “Premier League proven” players, the exchange of Giroud for Icardi seems a silly one when you consider both players’ goalscoring records prior to their time in the Premier League.

Olivier Giroud, in his final, title-winning season in Ligue 1, banged in 21 goals and contributed nine assists to his Montpellier HSC side in 36 appearances – all starts. Mauro Icardi only made 31 starts for Internazionale last season and he scored 16 goals, making four assists as well.

Olivier Giroud was playing in Ligue 1 that was much weaker than other leagues in Europe at the time (it still is), and he went from scoring 21 goals in a season to scoring around 15 goals in a full Premier League campaign.

Mauro Icardi plays in a Serie A, which is still at a low point in overall quality compared to the league in the 2000’s, so if in his best season he can only score 16 goals, it seems unlikely that he will make the move to a Premier League club and set the world alight with 20+ goals in a season.

The advantage to buying Icardi is that he is still a young man. As captain of Inter at only 23 (going on 24), he’s got the potential to improve and could do so under Arsene Wenger.

But considering that Olympique Lyon have demanded a similar price for their striker Alexandre Lacazette as Inter have for Mauro Icardi, is he really worth £45m OR £35m and the loss of Arsenal’s current first-choice forward.

The answer is no.

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Is Mauro Icardi good enough to make the difference for Arsenal? Should the Gunners lose Giroud to get their man? Leave your responses below.