Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 7y

Arsenal's Olivier Giroud not interested in joining Marseille - Rudi Garcia

Marseille bossĀ Rudi Garcia has told L'Equipe that Olivier Giroud would be a perfect fit for the Ligue 1 club but the Arsenal forward "does not want to come."

Giroud, 30, played down speculation his Arsenal career could soon come to an end after he was named among the substitutes for Sunday's Community Shield win over Chelsea.

Nonetheless, the former Montpellier striker has been strongly linked with a return across the Channel, with Marseille reportedly leading the chase for his signature.

Garcia, who guided Marseille into the Europa League last season, admits the club do not yet have the ability to attract a player of Giroud's calibreĀ as they build on new owner Frank McCourt's ambitious plans.

"I think he doesn't want to come to Marseille, Olivier Giroud. That's the problem," Garcia said. "You can understand that, when you're a striker in the France team, when you play at Arsenal and you're perhaps going to change club, you might have other centres of interest than OM.

"But we need motivated people. It also shows that we still have some way to go before we are completely attractive. That a player like [Brazil international] Luiz Gustavo joins us is a message for others. But for top players right now, we're a little short. It's important to say that."

Giroud is likely to find his first-team chances reduced this season following the arrival of fellow France international Alexandre Lacazette in a club-record deal from Lyon.

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