Why Giroud Over Southampton’s Irishman Would Be The Ideal Jan Signing For Newcastle United

Why Giroud Over Shane Long Would Be The Best Move For Newcastle United

The silly season that is the January transfer window is showing its full madness just now with Newcastle United continually linked with different players, despite their obvious and publicly stated budgetary restrictions.

What Rafa Benitez does really need is a striker and he has made no secret of this, with official enquiries having been made about Leicester City’s Islam Slimani and Liverpool’s Danny Ings, though both strikers have reservations and both clubs appear to want too much money to sell them permanently.

A loan move would be ideal for Benitez, the thinking being that he will have a new owner and a much bigger budget come June. So he is seeking an experienced, proven striker who simply needs a way out of his current club for the time being.

Shane Long and Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud who have both entered the betting as potential new signings for the Magpies this month. But if Newcastle had the choice then who should they go for?

There’s no doubt that Long has quality and it hasn’t gone unnoticed when he has played well against Newcastle in the past. However, he is not of the ability of the Frenchman. I’ve written many, many times about how people try to over-think and over-intellectualise football when most things in the game are incredibly simple and banal. In the case of Giroud, this is exacerbated at least in the short term.

True, Lacazette is a better long-term option for Arsenal given that he is 5 years younger than Giroud but the bottom line is that in recent times, Lacazatte could not get into the French national side because of Olivier Giroud! It’s that simple. Giroud at his best is a better striker than Lacazette at his current best and so he represents the sort of genuine quality right now, that Newcastle United need.

It has been said though that a move to Everton was ruled out by Giroud as they were based too far north, so if that’s the case then Newcastle may as well be in Scandinavia.

If he was receptive to a transfer to St. James’ Park at all though, then he would be the player I would go for ahead of Long any day of the week, especially on a short-term basis, allowing all the parties to go their separate ways come the summer.

Time will tell what January brings for Newcastle (maybe nothing) but one thing is for sure; if players of the quality of Giroud turn up, then it’ll make for a very happy supporter base.