Olivier Giroud has revealed why he turned down the opportunity to become Arsenal’s No. 9.
The French forward was offered the chance to inherit the prestigious jersey following Lukas Podolski’s switch to Galatasaray earlier this summer.
But the 28-year-old opted to stick with his current No. 12, to show loyalty to those fans who have bought the shirt, not because he fears the burden of leading the Arsenal attack.
“I don’t want to change the number,” he is quoted by the Daily Express as saying. “I’m not superstitious. I have the nine with the national team but it was available. I don’t want to change because people have bought my shirt with the 12.
“I know nine is for the attack leader but I will not be a better player if I wear a different number.
“I don’t have a precise target but I want to score more goals than last year. It would be nice to score more than 20 and at least 17 in the Premier League.”
Eduardo da Silva, Francis Jeffers and Park Chu-Young are among those to have buckled under the pressure of wearing Arsenal’s No. 9 shirt in recent years.
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