Olivier Giroud reveals the exact reason behind his painful Arsenal exit ahead of Champions League return

Giroud is set to face Arsenal on Tuesday evening as Lille visit the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League. Speaking to the Mirror, Giroud reflected on his departure to Chelsea in January 2018.

Asked why he chose to leave, Giroud explained: “It was part of my career and my time. I had to leave the club in order to play the 2018 World Cup and we know the end of the story. I was really sad to leave the club but I had to make that choice and that was a tough one in my career but it was necessary and important for the rest of my career.”

Giroud scored 105 goals in 253 appearances for Arsenal under Arsene Wenger. Giroud remains highly complimentary of the football they played back then.

He said: “When I arrive at Arsenal, I improve a lot on my game thanks to the daily basics we were doing in training. Working on your technique, your one-touch finishing but also to link up the play, to deflect the play, to play one-touch for your teammates and finish quick in the box. That was a perfect example. I improved a lot in that way, to be the target man, the wall a player can use to use me.”

Mikel Arteta, who played alongside Giroud at Arsenal, shared high praise for Giroud during his pre-match press conference. The Arsenal manager refused to accept that Giroud was an underrated player.

Arteta said: “Every time you had him on the pitch, you had a massive threat inside the box. He was very smart. He was so good at connecting with other players as well and his work rate was phenomenal, so certainly not [underrated] by us.” Arteta also noted that Giroud brought a completely different profile to the team when he originally joined after winning Ligue 1 with Montpellier.

Arsenal have a crucial Champions League test against Lille on Tuesday, where they will aim to shut down Giroud. Giroud will be determined to prove he still poses a massive threat inside the box. Following this highly anticipated European clash, Arsenal will shift their focus back to defending their Premier League crown.