Laurent Koscielny is convinced that his old friend Olivier Giroud can be a success at Arsenal this season.
Arsenal defender happy to reunite with former Tours team-mate
Laurent Koscielny is convinced that his old friend Olivier Giroud can be a success at Arsenal this season.
The France internationals were playing in the second tier of French football together at Tours as recently as 2009.
Now the pair have been reunited at Arsenal and Koscielny believes the 25-year-old striker will flourish at the Emirates Stadium.
"I am happy because he played very well at Montpellier," the defender told the club's
official website.
"I played with him at Tours and he was a great player then - now he is even more confident and scores a lot of goals. I know his qualities and he will give a lot for us.
"I know he has the physical quality to play in this league. For a striker it is [about] confidence and I am sure he is working hard to start well with Arsenal.
"He is tall, like Marouane Chamakh and is also good with his back to goal. I think if we play with technical guys he will be happy, and in the box he is a good finisher.
Similar
"We have had the same career, and we had some difficulties when we were younger.
"Now it is better for us and we work a lot - we have found coaches who gave us confidence.
"I first met Olivier at Tours, where we played one year together. It was the first year for the club in the second division and we finished sixth - Olivier scored a lot of goals.
"After that I left for Lorient and he stayed one year, and he won the award for top scorer.
"After that he went to Montpellier and scored a lot of goals. He is a champion with Montpellier and I am very happy for him."
