The Spanish club want Giroud as a replacement for Falcao.
In their bid to find a replacement for Radamel Falcao, Atletico Madrid have surprisingly turned their attention towards Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud, reports Le 10 Sport.
Atleti sold Falcao to super-rich Ligue 1 new boys AS Monaco for £50m earlier this summer and have been looking for potential candidates to fill the Colombian’s spot in the side ever since.
Although Valencia’s Roberto Soldado, David Villa of Barcelona and Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko have all been touted as successors to Falcao, it appears Giroud is one of Atletico’s main targets.
The Frenchman has only been with the Gunners for 12 months following a £10.6m switch from 2012 Ligue 1 champions Montpellier.
The 26-year-old had a competent first season in England, scoring 17 goals in all competitions for the north London club and the striker has also earned 19 caps for France and scored three times.
Giroud did come under some criticism for failing to really impress at the Emirates Stadium though and Arsenal have been strongly linked with Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain in a bid to improve their fire-power up-front.
Therefore the France international may find his position in the first team under threat and could view a move to the Spanish capital as a way to obtain regular football.
However, after only a year with the Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is unlikely to be keen on allowing Giroud to leave and if the 63-year-old were, Atletico would have to at least match what the English side paid.
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