Exclusive: McAvennie claims Giroud is not the answer for West Ham
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie does not believe Olivier Giroud would be a good addition for West Ham in January after the Chelsea striker was linked with a cross-London switch.
Italian news outlet CalcioMercato reported last month that West Ham, Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and Inter Miami had all set sights on signing the 34-year-old, who has started just one game in all competition for Chelsea this season.
Giroud has been regularly linked with the Hammers in recent years and while McAvennie thinks the France international could score more goals than Sebastien Haller, he doesn’t see him as that big an upgrade on what David Moyes already has in East London.
“They’ve got Haller who stands up there and wins the ball. Do I think Haller will score more goals than Giroud? I wouldn’t think so,” McAvennie told West Ham Zone.
“They need someone who’s really hungry to come in and push [Michail] Antonio and push Haller.
“I’d like to see somebody who guarantees 20 goals-a-season and I thought they were going to get that with Haller for over £40million. I hope he’s got that potential but for £40million you’d want someone to score those goals.
“I don’t think Giroud’s the man.”
Giroud has scored two goals in nine total appearances for Chelsea this season and has proven himself to be an ultra-reliable goalscorer in the Premier League over the years.
However, the former Arsenal striker is now 34-years-old and, as reported by statistics website Spotrac, is earning £110,000-a-week on his contract at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham have spent a lot of money on their strikeforce over the years yet their best striker right now is a winger they spent £7million on signing from Nottingham Forest in 2015.
Throwing money at strikers hasn’t helped the Irons in recent years so we agree with McAvennie in saying it’s unlikely to help Moyes out in January.
Giroud has proven himself to be a good striker in the Premier League and for France but we don’t see the World Cup-winner providing the upgrade the Hammers need.
In other West Ham news, Trevor Sinclair has been blown away by Vladimir Coufal’s impact at the London Stadium.