Arsene Wenger tells Olivier Giroud he doesn't need to quit Arsenal to play at World Cup

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James Olley12 December 2017

Arsene Wenger has insisted Olivier Giroud does not need to leave Arsenal in January to fulfil his World Cup dream.

The 31-year-old is yet to start a Premier League game this season and revealed in an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe that the tournament is “at the back of my mind weekly, almost daily”.

After coming off the bench to score a late equaliser in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Southampton, Giroud added that “I’m going to have to ask myself the question again” over whether to seek a move next month in search of regular first-team football.

“I read that, it is not exactly what he said,” Wenger told Standard Sport. “Always the way you can interpret that… personally, I want him to stay until the end of the season and then we will see.

“He is a very important player and I have big respect for Olivier Giroud, and if you look at his career since he came here, look how many French caps he’s got since he has been at Arsenal, he has not wasted his time.

“I can understand the frustration of every player who doesn’t play but that’s part of the job when you go to a big club.

“I can give you 10 more cases. Every player who does not play wants to start in the Premier League, that is absolutely normal. When you have three games like we have this week in six days, there is an opportunity for them to start.”

Giroud faces a battle against Alexandre Lacazette for pre-eminence with club and country. France coach Didier Deschamps left Lacazette out of his Euro 2016 squad believing Giroud was a better foil for Antoine Griezmann.

On target: Giroud came off the bench to rescue Arsenal on Sunday
Getty Images

However, Lacazette then moved to Arsenal from Lyon in a club-record £52.7million deal and went ahead of Giroud in the pecking order.

Giroud opted against joining Everton towards the end of the summer and Wenger said: “He has played many games, much more than people speak about. He has played more minutes since the start of the season than Lacazette. That is not always well known. When you are at a big club you have many big strikers and nobody can guarantee that you will play.

“He is not a sub for me, he is a regular player, but I have plenty of good strikers and you cannot play all of them together.”

Giroud has 18 months left on his deal, a year longer than Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, with whom Wenger insists talks are ongoing over possible extensions.

The pair have so far refused all offers and are free to negotiate with overseas clubs from January 1 but Wenger replied “no” when asked whether they had been made ‘take it or leave it’ deals to stay at Emirates Stadium.

“Negotiations are always going on with everybody,” he said. “Is it two years to go? One year to go? Three months to go? The door is always open and for the rest I cannot tell you much more.”