Despite Arsene Wenger claiming he’s sure Olivier Giroud is staying at Arsenal, the big guy himself doesn’t seem so sure.

While away on Arsenal’s pre-season tour, Giroud revealed that he didn’t know whether he would be with the Gunners come next season.

“I said no question about my future, you know, I’m still an Arsenal player for the moment and I want to prepare well for the season,” he said.

Despite rumours that the striker could be signing for the likes of West Ham, Everton, Marseille, Lyon and Fenerbahce, recent reports insisted that the 30-year-old, who penned a new deal at the beginning of the year, wanted to stay and fight for his place.

However, the signing of Alexandre Lacazette, who scored his first Arsenal goal within 14 minutes of setting foot on the pitch against Sydney FC, seems to have thrown a spanner in the works. Now, Giroud doesn’t seem quite as willing to fight. Or does he?

The big guy scored a neat goal against Western Sydney Wanderers and demonstrated sensational movement, as well as the brilliant hold-up play we all know he’s capable of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0QZlYBD5Lw

The calm goal and muted celebration, which he adopted last season, presumably as a result of being unhappy with his lack of starts, prompted Gooners in the stadium to sing his name and fans at home to admit that Arsenal would be stupid to allow him to leave.

Last season, the 30-year-old scored 16 goals and assisted seven in just 1,780 minutes of football. That means he has a direct influence on a goal every 77.4 minutes.

To put this into perspective, Alexis Sanchez contributed to a goal every 86.3 minutes.

Statistically, Giroud was the best super-sub in the Premier League for the 2016/17 season.

While it’s understandable that, given his age, he wants to move elsewhere in order to play every week, Arsenal need to do what they can to convince him to stay.

Obviously, this doesn’t necessarily mean making him Arsene Wenger’s first choice target man. However, it does mean giving him a chance and when he’s had a good week, reward him with more time on the pitch.

Arsenal have needed someone strong who can come off the bench and change a game for so long. It’d be such a shame to see him leave.