After a summer full of speculation and a disappointing opening weekend defeat to West Ham, plenty of Arsenal fans are hoping Karim Benzema comes in before the transfer window closes.

His competition at international level, Olivier Giroud, doesn’t feel the Frenchman is a necessary addition to the Arsenal squad, claiming that he is the right man to play up front for Arsenal this season.

“I showed great mental strength last year and I had good stats,” said Giroud. The forward scored 19 times last season after missing the opening months of the season through injury. Impressively, he scored a goal every 125 minutes he was on the pitch.

“I always try to improve myself and I feel with the team, so yes, I am sure I can bring something more to the team and to my team-mates.”

Giroud already faces plenty of competition for his place within the squad, with Theo Walcott, Alexis Sánchez and Danny Welbeck all viable options up front.

Walcott started FA Cup Final and Community Shield in Giroud’s place, and the Frenchman did little to impress when selected last weekend. However, the 6’3″ forward is backing himself, and the rest of the team, to bounce back.

“Unfortunately we have made mistakes we will learn from them and try not to do it again,” Giroud explained ahead of Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace. “We can succeed to play our game, we want to bounce back.”

“When you want to win the league it is always a mix of skill and mental quality, technique and tactical.

“You cannot win the league without mental strength, so obviously we need that and I think we have got it in our squad, the team is fantastic, like our understanding between us together. I think we can do well with that.”

Many have said Giroud isn’t good enough to spearhead a title challenge. I disagree, and so does he, but ultimately whatever Arsène Wenger thinks is the important thing.