Giroud wants to stay and fight for his place, claims Wenger

Oli Fisher

Olivier Giroud is ready to fight for his place in the Arsenal team after turning down the chance to leave the club this summer.

Arsene Wenger revealed that he had ‘opened the door’ for the forward to leave the Gunners in this transfer window due to the amount of attacking options the club have.

Speaking after Arsenal’s dramatic 4-3 victory over Leicester City where Giroud came off the bench to score a late winner, Wenger was delighted with his forwards attitude.

“I love the man and the player, he doesn’t want to leave and I’m happy he wants to stay. I opened the door for him because I know I had many strikers. It’s a long time since we had so much quality [in attack].”

He added: “I know how important Giroud is, not only as a player but in the group as well. It was relief he decided to stay.”

The hosts took an early 1-0 lead through new signing Alexandre Lacazette in the opening Premier League game of the season, but conceded two goals in quick succession as Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy fired the Foxes ahead.

However, Danny Welbeck levelled up before the interval, but Vardy grabbed his second minutes after the break.

Wenger then made key substitutions by bring Aaron Ramsey and Giroud on as the pair both made goalscoring impacts to seal the win.

After the victory, the Arsenal boss was quick to praise his team and the impact Lacazette made on his Premier League debut.

“Lacazette is simple – in every game he’s stronger. He’s a collective player and an intelligent player.

“The spirit of the team was absolutely outstanding, we were punished on every single mistake by a Leicester team who was very efficient,” he added.