Marseille coy over interest in Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud

Marseille coach Rudi Garcia is remaining coy on his rumoured interest in Arsenal's Olivier Giroud, with the Ligue 1 outfit seemingly prepared to wait until the end of the summer transfer window in order to attract a high-profile new striker.

The French giants are one of a handful of clubs said to be interested in a deal for Giroud, whose future in north London has been the subject of much speculation since an underwhelming 2016-17 campaign in which he started just 11 Premier League matches was followed by the club-record arrival of Alexandre Lacazette.

The Daily Telegraph reported earlier in July that OM believed they were in pole position to land the experienced French international and had become increasingly confident of sealing a deal worth €28m (£24.8m, $32.3m) plus add-ons.

Lyon, West Ham United and Everton have also been linked closely with Giroud over recent weeks, while Borussia Dortmund were said to be tracking him as a potential replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Speaking about Marseille's pursuit of the 30-year-old during an interview with AFP featured by football.london, Garcia said: "Olivier Giroud? I do not know, we have a fairly extensive list, but there is nothing concrete at the moment, nothing very advanced. It's complicated, many clubs are looking for attackers. Sometimes the players have other priorities, sometimes the price is not affordable for us. But we continue to work.

"And then we've being patient for the time being, we got Steve Mandanda and Adil Rami a little later than the recovery, even Luiz [Gustavo] arrived a little later. I think we are doing well to be patient, it is a little more complicated to build the team for the Europa League, but there is not what we want in the market.

"I am prowling about, and I know that sometimes there will be opportunities at the end of the transfer window of a great striker who has too much competition in his club and will decide to come and play at Olympique Marseille."

Speaking to Telefoot last month, Giroud claimed that he was "not necessarily insensible to the approaches of French clubs, especially a legendary club like Marseille". Although included in Arsenal's pre-season squad for their tour of Australia and China, he later admitted that ending his five-year spell with the Gunners was indeed an option.

Wenger has always maintained that he is eager to keep Giroud at the Emirates Stadium, a stance he reiterated after watching the player net the opening goal in a 3-1 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday.

"There is a lot of speculation, I have many times said that I have a huge respect for Olivier Giroud for the man he is and the way he loves our club," he said. "Even with all the speculation he is focused and does his job. I always said [that I expect him to stay], I was always consistent with that."