After Having This £40m French Striker At The Club’s Building, Why Everton Should Go Back To Sign Him In The Jan Window

Why Everton Should Go Back For Olivier Giroud In January

Ronald Koeman never really got Everton Football Club going. He arrived to much fanfare at Goodison Park but bid goodbye 16 months later, leaving the club in tatters.

After an encouraging 7th-place finish last season and a summer spending of £140m, the fans had every reason to expect more this season. But things didn’t pan out accordingly and the Dutchman was dismissed following Everton’s 5-2 mauling at the hands of Arsenal.

Just 2 wins from their opening 9 Premier League matches saw Koeman leave Everton inside the bottom three, while they are also without a victory in the 3 Europa League group-stage games so far.

David Unsworth has been placed in temporary charge at Goodison Park and although the former Toffees defender was unable to inspire his side to victory in his first match in charge, they did look much improved against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. Unsworth has requested a run of games to show he can be the winning manager that Everton need to replace Koeman on a permanent basis.

Coming back to Koeman, however, on his own admission, he failed to get hold of a target man or a reliable goal-scorer in the summer, following the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United and that made his job significantly harder this season.

Everton were linked with Arsenal striker Oliver Giroud all summer and Koeman later admitted the deal fell through in the last minute, citing one of the major reasons for his sacking.

“I had Olivier Giroud in the building. He would have fitted perfectly, but at the very last moment he decided that he’d rather live in London and stay at Arsenal,” Koeman said in an interview.

Currently, Everton desperately need a striker and if reports are to be believed, the Blues may use the January transfer window to launch a £40m bid again for their No.1 target – Oliver Giroud.

Giroud, despite committing himself at Arsenal, has once again found game time hard to come by. Regardless of that fact, the Frenchman has continued doing what he does best – scoring a fantastic winner in the Europa League game against Red Star Belgrade, which had echoes of his scorpion strike against Crystal Palace that won him the Puskas Award at the London Palladium this week.

With the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil believed to leave the Gunners in January or next summer, Giroud too faces an uncertain future at the Emirates. If the French forward continues to be on the fringes of Wenger’s squad, a winter move to Everton could be in his best interests for making the trip to Russia with France next summer.

If Giroud is keen to move in January, Everton should do anything and everything to get his services. A move in the winter transfer window will suit both the parties; the Merseysiders will get a proven goal-scorer they badly need and the 31-year-old will get ample opportunities he needs.

The factor to sign Wayne Rooney, Davy Klaassen and Gylfi Sigurdsson—all basically play the same position—will start making sense with the addition of Giroud. Having gone past a century of goals for Arsenal, the Frenchman is a proven Premier League material and should be able to fill Lukaku’s big boots.

Young Dominic Calvert-Lewin is fast and agile but not physically robust, and neither is Sandro Ramírez. Oumar Niasse did save Everton against Bournemouth but is not the kind of striker to be banked upon for the whole season.

In Giroud, Everton will finally get a traditional targetman, who could also help to get the best out of record-signing Sigurdsson. The striker would perfectly slot into a Royal Blues line-up that should then include key performers Yannick Bolasie and Seamus Coleman.

It is not just Lukaku’s goals and physical strength Everton are sorely missing; it is his clever runs, movement and above all, a strong persona. Lukaku, however is a closed chapter and in Giroud, they will get a player who the opponents would always be worried to face.

Koeman’s short tenure is done and dusted and there is no point looking back at what happened. Unsworth has the temporary job now and he should do everything he needs to do to bring Everton right back on track. And signing Giroud in the January window would certainly help him a long way in performing better and replacing Koeman on a permanent basis.