3 reasons why West Ham should avoid signing Olivier Giroud

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West Ham United appointed David Moyes as their new manager yesterday and could Olivier Giroud be his first January signing?

According to The Guardian, the Chelsea striker is being lined-up for a move to the London Stadium.

The Frenchman has fallen down the pecking order behind Tammy Abraham at Stamford Bridge and could depart.

Giroud hasn’t been in a Premier League squad since a 2-1 win over Aston Villa at the start of December and his time at the club looks to be over.

With West Ham languishing towards the foot of the top-flight, we look at three reasons why the Hammers should avoid signing Giroud:

Age

At 33, Giroud is only likely to be a short-term fix and does that really fit the ethos of West Ham?

Manuel Pellegrini had started to put together a relatively young squad and signing Giroud might undo that good work.

Although he knows where the back of the net is, West Ham would be wise to keep up the good work when it comes to developing younger talents.

Moyes must have a plan when it comes to transfer strategy and adding players with sell-on value would be more beneficial.

Settling in period

Giroud has only played seven times all season and given his age, there will certainly be a period in which he would need to get up to scratch.

The reason Frank Lampard hasn’t used him more at Chelsea is probably down to the form of Abraham, but there could be an element of him being over the hill.

Given the current predicament at the London Stadium, the Hammers could do with someone to come in and make an immediate impact.

Tasking Giroud with doing that could represent a risk.

Hampering Haller

The £45 million man (BBC Sport) has struggled to have an impact since arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt.

In 18 appearances he has scored five goals but given the money he cost West Ham they should persist with him for a little while longer.

It’s hard to imagine Haller and Giroud playing in the same system and it doesn’t make sense to drop him just yet.

Giroud is paid £110,000-a-week (Spotrac) at Chelsea and to swap Stamford Bridge for a relegation battle he is going to want a sizeable package.