By the end of this summer I can guarantee one thing – you will be absolutely sick of talking about strikers and their prices.
So, before that point arrives, I thought we might look at the value of the striker we actually have at the club.
Arriving in 2012 for £12m, Olivier Giroud’s low price tag has blighted his time at Arsenal with the press just willing him to be a flop so they could criticise the manager for being stingy, and many of them didn’t even wait for a whole season before branding him as such.
But despite the negative publicity that has surrounded him, almost since he landed in London, Giroud has continued to perform and improve.
His stats, however, don’t seem to show that.
He has been very consistent throughout his four years at the club, but when you look at his play, at his defensive contribution, his hold up play and more, you cannot fail to reach the conclusion that he is better now than when we signed him in 2012.
He finished his first season with 17 goals and 12 assists in 47 appearances. The following season that was 22 and 12 in 51. In 14/15, despite suffering a broken leg, he scored 19, with four assists, in 36 and last season, despite going through a lengthy goal drought, netted 26, with six assists, in 53 games.
To recap:
12/13 17 goals, 29 direct goal involvements, 1.62 games per goal involvement.
13/14 22 goals, 34 direct goal involvements, 1.64 games per goal involvement
14/15 19 goals, 23 direct goal involvements, 1.56 games per goal involvement
15/16 26 goals, 32 direct goal involvements, 1.65 games per goal involvement
With strikers moving for crazy money and even more crazy money being asked for others, what price would you put on Olivier Giroud?
What price Olivier Giroud?
— Daily Cannon (@DailyCannon) June 30, 2016
The most recent price tag to be put on him is €20m by L’Equipe (that’s around £16m by today’s exchange rate but god knows what it will be tomorrow).
That seems a bit low if you ask me but then again, he only has two years left on his contract and turns 30 in September.
Perhaps it’s right. What do you think? Let us know on Twitter.