Arsenal Transfer Watch: Olivier Giroud Starts, Scores First-Ever Goal for France

His side-footed finish past German keeper Tim Wiese was so calm and composed you'd have thought Olivier Giroud had been scoring goals for France for years.

In fact, it was just his third cap for Les Bleus, following his first-ever callup to the side last November.

Given the form the Montpellier hit man has been in this season, however, where his 16 league goals grace the top of the Ligue 1 scoring table, his strike to open the scoring in Wednesday night's friendly between France and Germany came as little surprise.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will likely have been following the proceedings, and may have even been watching live.

The Alsacien is often brought in as an analyst for French TV station TF1's broadcasts of the national team, where his slow and serious cadence often belie the furious on-field action.

Wherever he was watching—and rest assured that he most certainly is keeping tabs on Giroud—he must have liked what he saw from a player who has been linked with the Gunners on an increasingly frequent basis.

Giroud himself has begun churning the rumor mill, just yesterday hailing the "French feel" at the north London club.

Arsenal currently have five French internationals in the first team, a number that jumps to nine when French speakers like Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho are accounted for.

This summer, that figure may just jump to 10.

Wenger will have money to spend as he looks to bolster a side that has all but scuttled any potential chance at trophies this season, now preoccupying itself with a fourth-place finish in the league and the promise of Champions League football for a 16th consecutive season.

Lukasz Podolski, who did not feature for Germany on Wednesday because of injury, has already been linked with a move to north London, with reports circulating in Germany that personal terms have already been agreed upon between the FC Cologne forward and Arsenal.

There's no denying that if the Gunners are to make a serious push at the Premier League title next year, they must bolster their attacking ranks which, excluding a certain Dutchman, have failed to fire with any consistency this season.

Arsenal have scored 69 goals this season in all competitions in 2011-12. Robin van Persie has 28 of them, good to account for 40.5 percent of the total output.

The other "forwards" within the side have accounted for five. And three of those came from Thierry Henry, who was only with the club for a six-week loan stint.

While Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-Young, who have one goal apiece, have not seen the kind of playing time that would allow them to embark upon a goalscoring run of form, that matters little in the end.

Whatever your feelings on either's lack of inclusion within the side—and I've never felt that Park has gotten a fair shake with the club—the fact remains that they have not earned Wenger's confidence.

In the end, that's all that matters.

Thus, support is needed in the attacking ranks should (God forbid) Van Persie succumb to injury. Chamakh has said he'll stay with the club, at least through next season, but Park is set to return home to South Korea following the 2012-13 season to begin his mandatory military service.

Thoroughly frustrated with his lack of playing time as well, Park has said he will leave in search of more regular first-team football if his current situation does not change.

Van Persie has avoided serious injury for well over 13 months now, but his track record is simply too littered with ailments to count upon him.

Injuries happen. Reinforcements are a necessity in modern football. And right now, neither Chamakh nor Park inspires an outpouring of confidence.

Enter Giroud.

The French No. 9 (he wears No. 17 for Montpellier) lived up to his billing as one of Europe's preeminent attacking talents on Wednesday, nearly earning a brace for Les Bleus in an eventual 2-1 win.

He looked confident leading the line in manager Laurent Blanc's 4-2-3-1 formation, showing the mettle of a man who lives for the big occasions and bright lights. He looks like he'd be right at home walking out to the Champions League anthem on one of those inimitable European nights.

At 24, he is entering what looks all the more likely to be a remarkable prime. His finishing is his strong point, but he is also an underrated distributor with deceptive pace.

Many point to similarities between Giroud and Chamakh, but the former is a much more dynamic attacking option.

If a comparison were to be made, the former Tours striker is a lesser version of Van Persie, pacier and possessing superior technique than the Moroccan, able to not just operate in tight spaces but also navigate his way past opposing defenders.

The latter point is something we've never seen from Chamakh while with Arsenal, even during his best spell for the club back in the first half of the 2010-11 season.

If Podolski is indeed on his way to Arsenal, Giroud could add to what would be a left-footed infusion to the club.

With those two and a fully firing Van Persie, Arsenal would waste little time getting those fabled guns we see on the crest—strangely silent for frustratingly long portions this season—firing once more.