New Arsenal signing Olivier Giroud has admitted that he was inspired to move to the club by French compatriot Laurent Koscielny.
After weeks of speculation, Giroud completed his move to the Emirates from Montpellier HSC on Tuesday for a fee of around £12m.
The 25-year-old has only played two years of top flight football, having spent most of his time in the lower leagues, and Giroud revealed that Koscielny, who spent just one season in Ligue 1, was an inspiration behind his transfer.
"Of course [he is an inspiration], we have had a similar path in our careers," said Giroud. "I'm happy that he's here now and that I can join him, and it's a nice story because we were together at Tours four years ago, and we just missed out on getting promoted into Ligue 1," Giroud told Arsenal's official website.
"Laurent and I have talked a lot [about Arsenal]. I asked him about life, the club and the environment of the club. We talked about English football because like I said I've wanted to play here since I was a kid.
"It was my dream to play in the Premier League so Arsenal was ideal for me and Laurent told me it was a good choice."
Giroud scored 21 goals in 36 games for the French champions last season.
Matt Cotton
