I know that Marouane Chamakh is not the most highly thought of player among Arsenal fans, but he may well have helped Arsene Wenger to aquire one of his main targets of the summer, Olivier Giroud.
The 25-year old striker for Montpellier and France has stated his intention to move from the club but does not want to discuss his future until after Euro 2012. He did not feature for France in their opening game against England, and is only likely to appear as a substitute unless one of the trio comprising Benzema, Ribery and Nasri gets injured.
Arsenal were reported to have offered Chamakh to Montpellier as part of a deal for Giroud as the Moroccan striker is very highly regarded in France and could be a direct replacement for last years Ligue 1 top scorer. As Arsenal signed Chamakh on a free transfer, it would be an excellent bit of business for us.
It seems to have worked, as Montpellier manager told French radio station RMC: “Arsenal are very interested and Giroud wants to play in England. If Arsene agrees with the President, he will sign for them.”
Arsenal are thought to have offered £13 million to activate the buy-out clause in his contract, but that is cheap for such a highly rated striker. With other big clubs interested, it seems that Chamakh has made the difference. Who would have thought it?
well maybe we need to point the finger now at our current management or coaching system if its up to scratch.
i was surprised to see the french public welcoming marouane chamakh although he doesn’t score as many but he terrorises defenders.
then there is arshavin and park chu young. they think giroud might follow end up the same way.
Great deal if true, however I am uncertain how much we will actually be paying? I mean, yes we got chamakh on a free but he is not worth less than 5 million is he… Probably more. So are we swapping plus a little extra, 13 million plus chamakh which seems to be too much from us, or are we cutting losses and just throwing him in to sweeten the deal?
Much is still in the dark and still rumours so I will wait and see before I get to happy
But getting this guy in and selling chamakh would be brilliant… If giroud comes good then it could be one of the best bits of business arsenal have done in years
I’m confused, if we are offering the full £13 million in the buy out clause why do we need to throw in chamakh for free, surely he’s worth something to someone.
At 50k a week and something like 16 goals in 2 seasons for a ST is horrible business for us, even if we did get him on a free. After his first season and a dip in form in the final stages of the season two years ago I was still looking forward to him being a player we could count on to score goals and take some pressure off VP but after a horrible second year at the Club it’s best for both parties to move on. If he is a make weight for the Giroud deal then great he goes back to France where he is more “comfortable” and we get what could be a very good striker to help VP. Hope it happens but if this deal doesn’t happen hope we still get rid of him not because he’s a bad player because I don’t think he is, he just doesn’t fit with the style of football we play.
Chamakh has scored 12 goals in 34 starts. luckily for him i dont count sub appearances as at arsenal that is usually only 10-15 mins.
bendtner 45 in 79
arshavin 30 in 95
vela 11 in 19
gervinho 4 in 26
chamak has already personally stated that he is going to retire at Arsenal.
If giroud deal is true than why is wenger still wasting time to buy.he will be a great addition to d team.pls wenger buy him fast b/4 other teams go 4 him.pls,dont sell arshavin is still a gud player,wenger just need to play him in a free role or behind a striker.rather than playin ramsey dat does nt know how to push d attack.arshavin is a gud passer and pushes d attack.if wenger is buyin he should buy now,so dat after d euros they will just come back to prepare 4 d pre-season than we still bidding 4 players during d pre-season or hours 4 closure of d transfer market.
Chamakh is a better player than people think. He’s just better suited to a 442. I love Chamakh’s workrate and I can’t fault the guy’s heart or his technicality.
If he was a second striker in a 442 he would easily score 20+ goals.