Arsene Wenger reveals Olivier Giroud wants to STAY at Arsenal and will not be sold amid £20m Everton interest
French striker came off the bench to fire the Gunners to all three points in a dramatic 4-3 win over Leicester
ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger insists match-winner Olivier Giroud will stay at the club this season.
The French striker came off the bench to hand the Gunners all three points in a thrilling 4-3 win over Leicester on Friday night.
Giroud had been heavily linked with a £20million switch to Everton following Arsenal’s club-record deal for Alexandre Lacazette.
But Wenger revealed after the dramatic clash that Giroud “decided to stay” at the Emirates and he is “really loved” at the club.
The relieved gaffer said: “It’s impossible to keep all the strikers happy when they don’t play, but we have many games and hopefully I can give them all a good number of games.
“I love the man and the player [Giroud] and he doesn’t want to leave and I’m happy that he wants to stay.
“I opened the door for him, because I knew we had many strikers, but he’s really loved here and he decided to stay.”
Giroud, 30, started just 11 Premier League matches last season and scored 12 goals.
But his first goal of the new campaign could prove one of his most important already as Arsenal clawed their way back twice to kick-start their season.
Lacazette was on the scoresheet as Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey also opened their accounts.
Wenger remains concerned by his side’s defensive frailties and insists it is something they must work on.
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He added: “Our character was great because we were twice down and came back.
“Of course you cannot afford to concede three goals at home. We had 27 attempts and they had three on target and three goals, but it’s something we have to work on.”
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