Arsenal Balls: Manchester United’s Wellbeck, Remy, Podolski And Radamel Falcao’s Futures Rest On Giroud’s Ankle
ARSENAL Balls: how football reporting works with the Telegraph’s Matt Law. He’s looking at Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud.
In an “EXCLUSIVE”, Law writes:
Arsenal could be forced into late transfer window move for striker after Olivier Giroud injures ankle
Could.
He then adds.
Exclusive: Arsenal fear Olivier Giroud could be out for several weeks with injury sustained against Everton, prompting Arsene Wenger to rethink his transfer plan
Could.
But what are the facts?
Arsenal fear they could be forced into a late transfer window move for a striker as they wait to find out the extent of Olivier Giroud’s ankle injury.
So. Arsenal don’t know how bad Giroud’s injury is.
Arsenal are confident Giroud has not suffered a break, but fear he could be ruled out for a number of weeks once they have the results of a scan that the Frenchman was due to undergo today.
Law is keen to talk up the negativity:
Losing Giroud for any length of time would be a major blow to manager Arsene Wenger and will force him to rethink his transfer plans.
Well, yes. Losing your top scorer for a long period would be a blow to any team. And with the transfer window still open, buying another player is an option.
It would also leave him with a selection headache for Wednesday night’s vital Champions League play-off second leg against Besiktas.
Well, no. They can just play Podolski up front. He’s Arsenal’s best finisher.
And:
It also remains to be seen whether a serious injury to Giroud would alter Arsenal’s stance on Lukas Podolski, who has been seeking a new club.
But who remains an Arsenal player.
Juventus and Wolfsburg are interested in Podolski, but Wenger may be more reluctant to let the German leave if Giroud is ruled out and he cannot quickly find a replacement.
How’s that for an an “exclusive”.
Over in the Guardian, the news of Giroud is less dramatic. News is that Giroud “may” be fit for Wednesday.
Dominic Fifield adds:
The forward told French media he envisaged being fit to face the Turkish side but there are concerns at Arsenal the injury may be more serious than initially thought.
And then he’s off:
The seriousness of Giroud’s setback, which is not believed to be a fracture but could also rule him out of Sunday’s trip to Leicester, may yet influence Arsène Wenger’s transfer policy in what remains of the window.
Like the Telegraph, the Guardian says one option would be to hire Radamel Falcao – “who would cost a loan fee of around £15m.” That sounds a lot for a loanee. But he’s £20m in the Telegraph.
Readers then lean that Podolski is the subject of talks with Juventus. Eyes turn to QPR’s Loic Remy.
The Express then add Manchester United’s Danny Wellbeck into the mix.
Jamie Anderson adds:
…should Arsenal qualify for the UEFA’s illustrious competition they’ll be equipped with just Giroud, Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell.
Mentions of Podolski: nil.
Mentions of Theo Walcott: nil.
Mentions of Alexis Sanchez: nil.
Anyhow. It’s panic statison at Arsenal. Or as the Indy puts it:
We hear from Arsene Wenger:
“We have [Yaya] Sanogo who will be an important asset, we have Giroud, we have Lukas Podolski, we have Joel Campbell who can play centre forward,” he said. “We have Alexis [Sanchez] and [Theo] Walcott coming back. Let’s not forget that.”
Let’s not… Unless we’ve got a panicky exclusive to write…
Posted: 25th, August 2014 | In: Arsenal, Sports Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
