Giroud explains real reason behind Arsenal exit to Chelsea in 2018
Olivier Giroud is set to walk back into the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, this time wearing the colours of Lille, and the Arsenal legend has finally explained in his own words why he left the club for Chelsea back in January 2018.
Giroud spent six and a half years at Arsenal, scoring 105 goals in 253 appearances across all competitions before making the surprise switch to a London rival. Speaking ahead of Lille's Champions League league stage trip to north London, the now 40 year old revealed that the decision was driven by his France World Cup ambitions rather than any falling out with the club.
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“It was part of my career and my time. I had to leave the club in order to play the 2018 World Cup and we know the end of the story,” Giroud said, referencing France's triumph in Russia later that year. “I was really sad to leave the club but I had to make that choice and that was a tough one in my career but it was necessary and important for the rest of my career. It's great to come back at 40 years old with a French club and play against Mikel Arteta's Arsenal.”
Giroud on his development under Wenger
The striker also reflected fondly on how his time under Arsene Wenger shaped him as a player, crediting the daily training routines for improving his all round game.
“When I arrive at Arsenal, I improve a lot on my game thanks to the daily basics we were doing in training,” he explained. “Working on your technique, your one touch finishing but also to link up the play, to deflect the play, to play one touch for your teammates and finish quick in the box.”
He added that he still watches Arsenal closely and sees echoes of that Wenger era in the current side's approach. “Obviously now the game is even tighter in the box and teams defend very deep and low. It's really difficult to do it but I watch a lot of Arsenal now and I see some similarities in their game and they always try to put pace into the game in the last third.”
Arteta pays tribute to former teammate
Arteta, who played alongside Giroud at Arsenal, was equally warm in his pre-match press conference. “We were teammates. First of all, a great character and a great person to have around the dressing room, and then the players,” he said. “I remember when he came in, he won the Ligue 1 with Montpellier. He came here and he really impacted the team in a very different way, a completely different profile than we were used to. What a career he has had and definitely earned it as well.”
Asked whether Giroud had been underrated during his time in England, Arteta was firm in his response. “Not by his teammates for sure or Arsene in this case. I don't know the rest. But he was extremely intelligent first and he was really, really a handful. Every time you had him on the pitch, you had a massive threat inside the box. He was very smart. He was so good at connecting with other players as well and his work rate was phenomenal, so certainly not underrated by us.”
Tuesday's Champions League meeting will mark a rare reunion between Giroud and the club where he spent the best part of his prime years, with the Frenchman now looking to cause problems for the side he once led the line for.
