Arsenal: Olivier Giroud loyalty a rare glimmer of light

Olivier Giroud has revealed that he was very close to leaving Arsenal this summer but decided to stay to finish his story. His loyalty is a rare glimmer of light during a dark time for the club.

They say loyalty in football has died. For the most part, that is probably a true statement. There are numerous examples of players proclaiming their love for the club, declaring their intention to stay and to drive the team to greater success, only to leave in the next window after stropping their way out the door, refusing to play just so they can force that big-money transfer.

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Even Arsenal, a club that has had the same manager and regime for over two decades, can tell numbers of tales of betrayal and unfaithfulness. But every now and then, in a world littered with the dishonest and disloyal, there is the odd person, a player, a manager, a coach, even an owner, that bucks the trend, that challenges the norm.

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This summer, the challenger is an oft-criticised, always-divisive, sometimes-unpopular Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman, who has seen his starting place stolen from him thanks to a compatriot who actually sits below him in the pecking order for the national side, was offered a chance to leave, a chance to play regular football with a World Cup on the horizon, a chance to revel, not rot. But Giroud chose the latter. Giroud chose the bench. Giroud chose to sit on the side, not bask in the limelight. When asked about the possibility of leaving, this is what Giroud had to say:

"“Actually that’s a very private decision because it’s true that I was close to leave the club because I said that I wanted to play, but after a big reflection with everybody around me like my family and my close friends in a supportive way, I wanted to stay at Arsenal and I thought the story was not over. The club brings me a lot and I think I give it back. I still want to improve again and again and win some more trophies for the club, so as I said to the boss our story was not finished.”"

Such loyalty to the club, potentially at the detriment of his own career, is a wonderfully refreshing glimmer of light. For Arsenal, a club that has been thrust into the darkness without any semblance of hope or optimism, no matter what the PR department may conjure up, that is, quite frankly, nice.

As a writer, you are often deterred from using the word ‘nice’. It is plain, non-descriptive, overly-simple. But here, it is perfectly accurate. With such a mire of disheartening news that only compounds with every breaking story, it is just nice to see a player who truly loves the club, and act out of that love, rather than spouting one thing and doing another.

Giroud, for all his faults, loves Arsenal. He is tireless in his efforts, he is unselfish in his play and he simply wants to see the team succeed. While some may bemoan his quality, while some may complain about his immobility, while some may question his finishing and his goal scoring knack, what cannot be questioned is his desire.

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For other players, the same cannot be said. And that is important. Giroud’s admiration for Arsenal is important and, quite frankly, it’s just lovely.