Suarsenal - Giroud: Luis and I can be golden goal duo

Posted Thursday, July 18, 2013 by The Sun

OLIVIER GIROUD last night urged Arsenal to step up their pursuit of Luis Suarez.

The Gunners are set to make a fresh bid for the Uruguay striker, having seen a £30million approach knocked back — and Giroud insists he would welcome the Liverpool star.

France frontman Giroud, who hit a hat-trick yesterday in the Gunners’ 7-1 win over Vietnam, says he could form a potent partnership with 24-year-old Suarez next season.

Giroud, 26, said: “Luis Suarez is someone with whom I could form a good understanding on the pitch.

“So I am in favour of him coming to Arsenal and I am not afraid of the competition for places his arrival would bring about.

“Arsenal’s aim for the new season will be to qualify for the Champions League.

“And, given the fact that our rivals have changed their coaching staffs, I don’t see why we can’t challenge for the title.”

Giroud, a £10m buy from Montpellier last summer, also vowed to better his goal tally from his Gunners debut season.

He added: “From a personal viewpoint I aim to do better than last season, by scoring more than 17 goals and providing more than 10 assists.”

Team-mate Jack Wilshere came through his long-awaited return to action as Arsenal strolled past the Vietnamese.

Eight weeks after undergoing surgery on a persistent ankle problem, the England midfielder passed a 25-minute workout in a tropical downpour.

Now manager Arsene Wenger is confident Wilshere is firmly on course to be fully fit for next month’s opening Premier League game against Aston Villa.

Wenger said: “Jack is not short power-wise because he has done a lot of work on that front but is a little bit short on the cardiovascular front.

“That’s why we tried to give him 25 minutes tonight, 45 minutes next week, then an hour and hopefully a full game at the Emirates Cup.

“We’ll have to see how he responds but he has a good chance for the Villa game.”

Despite the scoreline, Arsenal were forced to suffer in breathtaking humidity before the heavens opened.

Wenger added: “Tonight we learned to play at a high pace and suffer physically, which is what we required.

“We scored some great goals too so it’s been a good start to the season for us.”

Arsenal ran riot in the second half after Giroud’s first-half treble.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain struck a minute after the restart before Chuba Akpong, 17, added a couple more.

Ignasi Miquel completed the rout before Tran Manh Dung fired a consolation.

Arsenal now head for Japan, where they will face Wenger’s former team Grampus Eight next Monday.

But it was not all good news as Wenger confirmed skipper Thomas Vermaelen could be out until October after he aggravated a back problem on international duty with Belgium.

He said: “Thomas will not start the season. He has a stress fracture and will be out for at least two months.”