Wayne Rooney has spoken highly of Olivier Giroud amid speculation linking the Arsenal striker with a move to Everton.
The French striker came close to joining the Toffees in the summer, but ultimately opted to stay and fight for his place at the Emirates.
It’s been a frustrating time for Giroud since, with Arsene Wenger giving him just one start in the Premier League so far this season.
That’s led to renewed speculation he could move on and it seems, judging from Rooney’s comments, he would still be very welcome at Goodison Park.
‘I think we could do with another striker in,’ Rooney told TalkSport.
‘The one player for me who has to start is Olivier Giroud. He scores goals and every time he comes on he scores, he’s a handful and hard to play against.
‘For me, if he starts games for Arsenal they are a better team.’
Despite Giroud’s lack of starts, he’s still managed to score four Premier League goals this season. He’s also scored three in the Europa League to help Arsenal progress through to the knock-out stage of the European tournament.
Wenger has indicated he wants to keep Giroud at the Emirates.
‘He is important – why should we lose an important player? It is up to us [and not Giroud],’ he said earlier this month.
He went on: ‘He will start more games. I believe as well it’s always the same when you have many good players, some of them cannot play.
‘The question you get is always why does the guy who is good not play? Because if you take him on you have another guy who is good who will not play, it is as simple as that.’
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