Former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud insists he had to reject transfer interest from Tottenham as it would have been “very weird” for him to play for the club.
Giroud recently left Chelsea to join AC Milan, but is most well known on these shores for his spell with Arsenal, where he played for five and a half seasons, scoring a total of 105 goals in all competitions.
The France international then left Arsenal for their London rivals Chelsea, and even scored against them in the Europa League final in 2019.
He insists, however, that ending up at Tottenham later would have been a step too far, due to his undying loyalty to the Gunners.
Forgive us if we’re not that convinced, but, speaking to the Mirror, Giroud explained: “Tottenham was interested and Jose Mourinho was interested. But I was so close to signing for Inter, for Lazio, I was desperate for game time.
“Tottenham was there but, to be honest, it was not a clear option because the race for the Premier league top four made it difficult for anything to happen.
“But also in my heart, as a proper ex-Gunner, and as we always say: ‘Once a Gunner, always a Gunner.’ It would have been very weird to have played Tottenham. That’s why it didn’t happen.”
Giroud had a very decent Premier League career overall, but it’s highly questionable if he was what Spurs needed at this moment in time.
The 35-year-old sort of makes sense as the kind of player Mourinho might’ve gone after, but overall it’s surely for the best that this deal never went through.
