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Olivier Giroud is yet another player linked with a loan move in January after he was warned by France assistant coach, Guy Stephan, that his place in his national team’s World Cup squad for next summer could be in jeopardy unless he gets more regular first-team football.
The Arsenal striker turned down a move to Everton in the summer, opting to stay and fight for his place in The Gunners Premier League team instead. However, he finds himself mainly on the substitute’s bench and behind Alexander Lacazette when it comes to Premier League action, with his appearances mainly confined to the Europa League and Carabao Cup, although he did grab a late equaliser against Southampton on the weekend when, yet again, coming on as a replacement.
Now he may be forced to seek a loan deal in January in order to get the regular football he needs to convince French manager Didier Descamps that he is worth a seat on the plane to Russia next summer.
With his wife Jennifer pregnant with their third child and preferring to stay in London, a move to Merseyside can probably be ruled out. That leaves both West Ham and Crystal Palace competing to sign a player for the rest of the season who has scored 104 goals in 248 appearances for Arsenal.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.