He’s been a quality player no doubt but he is 35 in 4 months time and I just don’t think he is what we need for what he would cost.
When you’re a mid/lower Premier League club, you just can’t afford to carry players who might be a bit of a luxury and not able to contribute to the overall team effort. We saw this towards the end of Murray’s time. Murray might have been a better finisher but as an attacking and defensive unit we’re better with Maupay/Trossard/Welbeck.
I agree that we’re also not what he would want at all. He will want to play with better players and probably in a slightly less physically intense league now where he doesn’t have to play every week. Wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him finally end up at Roma with Mourinho. I think he would be as successful in Italy as Zlatan has been going back there.
He is not coming but I think he would be fine.
Its not a luxuary player, which is one of the reasons he gets little recognition. Sure, he is 192 cm tall and doesnt have the body type to be able to constantly pressure opponents, but his game is very team-centric. Just look at his performances when France won their gold in 2018 - he didnt score a single goal but was instrumental in setting up Griezmann and Mbappe in game after game.
If we want a target player kind of striker at the club we'll have to accept that he wont be able to run as much as Welbeck & Maupay. Its the reason why players like Zlatan, Giroud, Drogba and similar are sometimes seen as lazy - they need more rest in between actions. Sometimes it is worth it, in other games its not, but its a good option to have.
Anyhow, as were both aware - it wont be Giroud.