'I had Olivier Giroud in the building': Ronald Koeman says Arsenal striker would have been 'perfect' at Everton

Perfect fit | Ronald Koeman feels Olivier Giroud would have been 'perfect' for his Everton side
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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_26 October 2017

Sacked Everton manager Ronald Koeman says Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud would have been the ‘perfect’ summer signing at Goodison Park, revealing just how close he was to making the move.

The Dutchman, who was dismissed following his side’s 5-2 defeat to Arsenal at the weekend and a string of bad performances in the Premier League and Europe, has revealed he had the Gunners striker ‘in the building’ only for him to pull out of a move to Merseyside.

Everton have struggled to settle after a summer which saw star striker Romelu Lukaku leave for Manchester United to be replaced by a host of attacking midfielders, though Koeman believes it would all have been different had the Frenchman signed.

"I had Olivier Giroud in the building," said Koeman in an interview with Voetbal International.

"That would have been perfect for us, but he decided at the last moment that he'd rather live in London.

"That was hard to swallow, you tell me where you can get a better striker.

"Lukaku was important to us, not only because of his goals, but because of his way of playing - strong, quick, direct.

"There was always the option of the long ball to him. Now we missed such a player, we had Nicola Vlasic and Wayne Rooney, players who want the ball in to feet."

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Koeman also defended the club's huge outlay of around £150million on players over the summer.

"We sold Lukaku for £90 million - our most expensive purchase, the Icelander Gylfi Sigurdsson, cost half," he added.

"Of course, it's a lot of money, but in England you work in a world of different numbers. Players here all cost a lot more than they are actually worth. That's how the market works."