With a new deal at the club expected, it seems as if Olivier Giroud’s agent isn’t quite finished as he looks to get the best deal possible for his client.

How else do you explain the rumours that he is a hot target for clubs in Serie A for a summer move when he’s starting, on the verge of a new deal and scoring regularly?

These sorts of things are fairly common and as people online become more aware of them they start to stick out like a sore thumb.

Isn’t it better to go into a negotiation being able to say ‘hey, if you don’t want to pay him £xmillion, there are plenty who will’ than having nothing like that to back you up?

The report first appeared in Calciomercato in Italy but didn’t take long to spread. It harks back to the summer when Arsenal allegedly offered the Frenchman in a bid to land either Gonzalo Higuain or Mauro Icardi.

Giroud’s current contract runs until 2018.

He has started Arsenal’s last four games. He’s scored four and assisted two. Averaging a goal or assist every 44 minutes in the League this season (a goal every 73).