France national team manager Didier Deschamps has claimed that Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud faces the risk of missing out on the national team place ahead of the World Cup 2018.
The 30-year-old received a number of offers to leave the gunners at the start of the season. It became apparent that Giroud would not be the regular first-team player at the club after they brought in Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for around £ 46 million. However, the Frenchman decided to stay at the club in order to fight for his position and it has so far been the wrong decision.
Giroud has not been able to start a league match this season. The former Montpellier forward came to Arsenal in 2012 and has been a regular source of goals for the club. He has 70 goals in just 170 appearances for the club. His best ever season with the gunners was during the 2015-16 campaign when he came up with 24 goals in 53 games. Even last season was a relatively good campaign for the Frenchman as he scored 12 goals in 29 league games. Now, however, he has had six appearances in the league with none of them from the start.
As a result, he is at the risk of losing his national team place, according to Didier Deschamps. The French national team boss does not take any prisoners and has even dropped top stars like Nicolas Anelka in the past.
“This is not ideal. His playing time is reduced. He plays the Europa League. I will not take away from him what he did with us, he has very good statistics, but I would prefer him to be in a club where he plays almost all games. He made the decision to stay at Arsenal. It’s his choice. It can have consequences like all other players,” said the French national team manager.