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Football London
Football London
Sport
Bailey Keogh

Arsenal laugh long-term with £56m deal despite striker's brutal Chelsea transfer claim

Since Olivier Giroud’s switch from Arsenal to Chelsea in January 2018, the Frenchman has consistently found a way to talk down on the North London side.

He was seen laughing at the club after being victorious against the Gunners with a 4-1 victory in the 2019 Europa League final and sarcastically shouted “Thank you, Arsenal!”

And it seems that the former Arsenal striker has taken another dig at the club as he told talkSPORT “ I had an amazing time at Arsenal but [at Chelsea] I can say even more because I won the big titles.

“It was emotionally difficult to leave when I left Montpellier and Arsenal, but even more tough [at Chelsea].”

Olivier Giroud signed for Arsenal in 2012. (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Whilst he clearly benefited from the move to Chelsea, so did Arsenal.

The Gunners signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the same day the club sold Giroud and have seen success since.

The Gabonese international joined the club in a £56m deal from Borussia Dortmund and would be an instant success by scoring a glorious chip in his debut game against Everton at Emirates stadium.

And this was a sign of goals to come for the forward as he has since gone on to score 66 goals for the club in just 122 games.

Along this time he managed to achieve the 2018/2019 golden boot after scoring 22 goals in his second season with the club, something Giroud never managed to do in his six-year tenure at the club.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with the 2018/19 Golden Boot. (MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Aubameyang managed to reach 22 goals in back-to-back seasons, whilst the Frenchman’s best scoring season in the Premier League was 16 goals during 2013/2014.

It hasn’t just been the frequency of the goals scored by Aubameyang which doesn’t affect Arsenal fans when Giroud is mentioned, but it has been the importance of his goals.

In Arguably his best game for the Gunners, the Gabon international scored two goals in an FA Cup final ironically against Giroud’s Chelsea to win Arsenal’s first trophy in three years.

He has carried Arsenal in the last few seasons and is a major reason why the club have sometimes kept their head above water in the most daunting of times.

This is also why he was awarded with the club captaincy in 2019 after Granit Xhaka’s dismissal showing how crucial Aubameyang is for Arsenal and what an impact he has in the changing room.

Giroud certainly had his good moments in an Arsenal shirt, but his shade towards the club is often brushed overdue to the success of Arsenal’s current captain who has done an excellent job of replacing him.

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