Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud would welcome further attacking signings

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud appears open to the club making further attacking signings after admitting he relishes competition for his place in the Gunners first team.

Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck joined the North London club last summer and though the France international missed three months of the campaign with a broken leg he netted 19 goals in all competitions as the club retained the FA Cup.

Giroud was often chosen ahead of Welbeck when both players were fit and the 28 year old produced some of his best form since arriving at Arsenal during the second half of the campaign.

Though Petr Cech has arrived from Chelsea to add solidity to the goalkeeping position, there remains a perception that Arsenal require additional firepower in attack – a view backed up by Thierry Henry's criticism of Giroud last season.

Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain has been linked with a move to Arsenal, according to Sky Sports – with president Aurelio de Laurentiis open to selling the player for €90m (£63.45m, $99.18m). Giroud seems open to such an investment after claiming his form improves when the competition for places swells.

"You have to deal with that [competition] all the time and it helped me be a better player," said Giroud according to the club's official website. "People are always talking about different players. I focus on myself and try to improve my game. As a team we improve and I am happy with that.

"I don't have a precise target [for the new season] but I always want to improve, so I want to score more goals than last year. It would be nice to score at least 15 or 20 goals. My best record is 16 in the Premier League and I want to beat that.

"I have a team target to win one more trophy, a fourth one since I arrived here. I really want to win one more and why not the league this year?"

Henry, Arsenal's record goalscorer, said last season that Arsenal can forget any hopes they have of winning the Premier League title if Giroud continues to lead the attack.

The former Montpellier forward says he wants face-to-face talks with Henry about the stinging critique but maintains he is untroubled by such criticism.

"To be honest, when you are a footballer you don't have to listen to people commenting about your performance," Giroud told The Daily Mail.

"The main thing is not to have any doubt when you miss a chance or miss a game. It can happen sometimes.

"The best thing is to forget about the comments straight away and to keep the head up and not let it affect your qualities.

"I know Thierry and I knew what he wanted to mean. If I see him we will have a conversation between two men.

"I'm not angry against him but it's true that I didn't understand at first. I think he reacted about his words and explained them more.

"But it's all right. I'm not going to be upset about that. I'm sleeping well and as long as my family is OK that's the main thing. It doesn't affect me too much."