Stephen Dunmoye
Former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has confidently said that Arsenal are now finally in a position to return to Europe’s elite club competition.
During his time in north London, Giroud scored 105 goals in 253 games for Arsenal and became accustomed to Champions League football before crossing over to London rivals Chelsea in January 2018.
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s powers have waned significantly in the years since the 35-year-old’s departure so much that the last time the club actually qualified for Europe’s premier competition was when he was still at the club.
Giroud currently features for Serie A Champions AC Milan, but rose to prominence during a five-and-a-half year spell at the Emirates Stadium.
However, an implosion in the final weeks of the campaign opened the door for Tottenham, who pipped their bitter rivals to a top-four finish.
The Gunners are currently top of the Premier League standings after winning five consecutive matches prior to last weekend’s 3-1 defeat against Manchester United.
“I’ve also been watching my Gooners. I think it’s going to be another interesting year for them,” Giroud said.
When he was specifically pushed on if he believes that Arsenal would clinch a top-four finish this year, Giroud added: “Yes, definitely. I hope so.”
According to Giroud, “Sometimes the problem is that money plays a huge part in success also. When you see Chelsea after winning the Champions League spend over £80million [£97.5m] on Romelu Lukaku to reinforce the forward line and after spending a lot of millions the year before, I think money plays a huge part. That’s the thing with Arsenal. Maybe they don’t put as much in as their opponents.”