Arsenal close to completing Giroud deal

Arsenal are on the brink of sealing a £12-million (S$23.9-million) deal for Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud, with formal confirmation possible within the next 48 hours.



Giroud, who was the top scorer last year in France's La Ligue, is currently in Ukraine with Laurent Blanc's France squad but the official completion of a deal is now extremely close both with Montpellier and the player.



The Daily Telegraph revealed in April that Arsene Wenger had asked for regular scouting reports on Giroud and, having followed that interest up with a formal bid, it is understood that the two clubs are now completing the paperwork on the deal. Barring any unexpected late hitches, Giroud will become an Arsenal player.



Arsenal have already signed Germany striker Lukas Podolski for £11.9 million this summer, with the arrival of another leading striker certain to intensify scrutiny over the future of Robin van Persie.



Arsenal, though, remain determined to keep Van Persie and regard the arrivals of Podolski and Giroud as key to persuading their captain to extend his contract.



Podolski is most likely to play to the left of an attacking three, while Giroud will be regarded as crucial backup to Van Persie, especially as the Dutch forward can only be held at the club until the completion of his contract next year. What Giroud's arrival would underline, however, is that Wenger is determined to overhaul his strikers this summer and the club will listen to offers for Marouane Chamakh, Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela and Park Ju Young.



Vela and Bendtner have finished loan spells at Real Sociedad and Sunderland respectively, while Chamakh and Park were conspicuous last season by their collective lack of impact in support of Van Persie. Between them, they scored just two goals.



At 1.9m tall, Giroud would certainly provide a powerful physical presence and a different sort of option to Van Persie. The 25 year-old was central to Montpellier's unexpected success in winning the French league, scoring 21 goals. Giroud scored his first international goal in the 2-1 win over Germany at the end of February and is in the France squad that is in the same group as England at Euro 2012, although he did not feature in Monday's 1-1 draw.