Arsenal have confirmed over Twitter that striker Olivier Giroud will be out three to four months after undergoing surgery on a fractured bone in his ankle.
The injury to Giroud was suffered in the final minutes of Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Everton when he blocked Sylvain Distin’s clearance, a seemingly innocuous challenge that test results later revealed the damage.
“I still don’t understand how he did it. He overstretched his ankle. It was on the ball, not a contact (with another player). The problem is, I think, his tibia,” was manager Arsene Wenger’s take on the incident.
The loss of Giroud, who has scored 41 times in 102 appearances since signing for the Gunners in the summer of 2012, skyrockets the possibility of Wenger soon moving to sign another pure striker. Lukas Podolski, Alexis Sanchez and Joel Campbell are all capable of playing that role but tend to excel in secondary striker or winger positions. That leaves the talented but inexperienced Yaya Sanogo as the squad’s only true striker, a predicament unlikely to make Arsenal comfortable.
[Related: Arsenal bid $82 million for Cavani]
Yesterday rumors emerged of the club’s renewed interest in French striker Loic Remy while this morning reports from the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and Daily Star all had Edinson Cavani moving to North London on a $82 million fee from Paris Saint Germain.
[Related: Arsenal in for Luis Gustavo?]
Arsenal are also rumored to be in the market for a center-back and defensive midfielder but with news of Giroud’s prolonged absence it seems a new striker is now the priority.