Olivier Giroud has been warned his place in the France World Cup squad is in jeopardy if he remains confined to the Arsenal bench.
The 31-year-old striker has yet to start a Premier League game since Arsenal broke their club transfer record to sign his compatriot Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for £53million.
Giroud’s scoring form has held up rather well – he averages a goal every 78 minutes in the Premier League – but like many of his team-mates he has found it hard to bridge the gap between Arsene Wenger’s Europa League/EFL Cup squad and the first-choice XI.
Despite the wealth of attacking talent available to France head coach Didier Deschamps there has consistently been a place in the French squad for Giroud, who has often partnered Antoine Griezmann in attack.
However Deschamps’ assistant coach Guy Stephan has warned that may change if Giroud cannot earn himself regular football over the coming months.
“It's clear that he is not getting enough playing time and Didier has already spoken to him about it,” Stephan told TF1. “He has to find a solution in the coming weeks.”
As to whether that solution should involve moving elsewhere Stephan added: “It's up to him. He's played very well in recent months with us.
“He has a very good goals-to-games ratio, but he now has to play.”
Giroud is unlikely to be short of suitors should he choose to move on mid-season, though he insisted last month that he was happy still happy at Arsenal.
Everton made Giroud their first-choice to replace Romelu Lukaku during the summer and their failure to get the France striker still haunts the Toffees.
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West Ham, Lyon and Marseille also targeted the striker during the summer, with Arsenal willing to let him make a decision on his future. Wenger would describe Giroud’s decision to stay as “one of the great days” of his summer transfer window.