Olivier Giroud's agent claims that his client is not interested in leaving Arsenal.
Frenchman Olivier Giroud's agent has insisted that his client is not leaving London to sign for Serie A side Napoli.
Giroud,
29, who was part of Didier Deschamps' France squad for Euro 2016 has
been the subject of intense transfer speculation, with Napoli as the
frontrunners to sign the Arsenal forward as a replacement for Gonzalo
Higuain.
His agent Michael Manuello has laid those rumours to
rest, claiming that Giroud is focused on starting the new season with
Arsenal, and that there has been no contact with Napoli.
"Everything
I've read on the Giroud is not true. I personally have only said that
if Arsenal want to sell it, then we will see," Manuello told TuttoMercatoWebb.
"I
do not know where [the Napoli story] came from. We never talked to
Naples and there are no other persons appointed over me that can do
this, we need to clarify this."
While Manuello continues to deny that his client is close to the exit door, it contradicts what he told Radio CRC
last week, where he said "In Naples, my client could have a wonderful
lifestyle, not to mention that Maurizio Sarri's style of footballer
would get the best out of a striker like him."
Arsene Wenger is
looking to bolster his attacking options before the 2016-17 season kicks
off next month, and with England striker Danny Welbeck set to miss the
start of the new campaign, Manuello reckons his Giroud will have a key
role to play at the Emirates Stadium.
"You always need two
strikers, Welbeck is out for nine months unfortunately. And quite
normal, if you play in a great team, it is natural that we could face
strong competition," he added.
Wenger's search for a striker has
failed to garner results with Jamie Vardy opting to stay at Leicester
City, while Higuain is rumoured to be closer to a Juventus move than to
London. Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi is the latest attacker to be linked with the Premier League giants.
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